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Apple to Require App-Specific Passwords For Third-Party Apps Accessing iCloud

Apple is now offering app-specific passwords for third-party apps that access iCloud, allowing users to generate unique one-time use passwords to sign into iCloud securely. In a support document (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6186?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US), Apple describes app-specific passwords as a feature of two-step verification and states that app-specific passwords will be required to sign into iCloud when using a third-party app beginning on October 1, 2014.
 
 (http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2014/09/appspecificpasswords.jpg)

If you use iCloud with any third party apps, such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, or BusyCal, you can generate app-specific passwords that allow you to sign in securely, even if the app you're using doesn't support two-step verification. Using an app-specific password also ensures that your primary Apple ID password isn't collected or stored by any third party apps you might use.

App-specific passwords, which have long been used by other sites like Google, are a function of two-step verification. Typically, two-step verification requires a user to enter a verification code, but oftentimes, the codes will not work properly in third-party apps, so app-specific passwords are substituted instead.
 
 As outlined in the support document, app-specific passwords can be generated by accessing My Apple ID (http://appleid.apple.com/account/home), where the option to generate an app-specific password is listed under Password and Security. According to Apple, users can have up to 25 active app-specific passwords at a time, which are listed in the Password and Security section of My Apple ID.
 
 (http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2014/09/appspecifichistory.jpg)Generating an app-specific password is limited to accounts with two-factor authentication turned on, and for security reasons, Apple sends an email whenever an app-specific password is generated. App-specific passwords will be revoked whenever a user's primary Apple ID password is changed, requiring new app-specific passwords to be generated.
 
 Apple's new app-specific passwords follow the launch of two-factor verification for accessing iCloud.com (http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/16/icloud-two-factor-authentication/) and come after a hacking incident that saw the iCloud accounts of several celebrities compromised due to weak passwords.
 
 Apple CEO Tim Cook has promised (http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/04/cook-security-alerts-icloud/) to improve iCloud security by increasing awareness about two-factor verification, as well as sending out security emails (http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/08/icloud-alert-emails-web/) whenever a device is restored, iCloud is accessed, or a password change is attempted.
 
 
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Source: Apple to Require App-Specific Passwords For Third-Party Apps Accessing iCloud (http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/16/apple-app-specific-passwords/)