Post date: Jan 24, 2016 10:35:31 PM
My Apple iPhone Tantrum: a Blog Post for January 24, 2016
I had a strange thing happen over the weekend that caught me off guard. I have had a four digit passcode on my newer iPad for a long time and was surprised at how quickly my five year old grandson memorized it. I think I only showed it to him twice. However, I had not yet put a passcode on my new iPhone 6, purchased back in September 2015.
We had out of town friends staying with us for the weekend, and Mike had taken Steve downtown Waterloo for breakfast and a political campaign activity on Saturday morning, while Hope and I stayed home to relax. I joked that I was going to check my phone app to “stalk” Mike and see where he was, and grabbed my iPhone. To my surprise, not only was I not able to use my app, I couldn’t get past a screen that commanded me to add a six digit passcode or finger print. I tried repeatedly to do the finger print and got frustrated with the process. I then tried to get around the passcode screens to be able to use my phone, getting more upset with each passing minute.
Mike and Steve arrived home to find me sitting at our kitchen island and poking at my phone, while fuming and using un-lady-like language, shall we say, while Hope remained calm and tried to help. I had to set up Apple pay and input more information before I could use my phone; since I’ve had an Apple ID since 2009, it didn’t make sense that I was having to do this right now before I could do anything with my phone. I assumed at first it was due to an update; however, shortly after I had survived this foolishness, my phone informed it had to do an update.
Intellectually, I understand that Apple is trying to protect me and my data; however, emotionally, it felt like I had been hijacked and was not able to do what I needed to do with my own phone. Fortunately, we figured it out and my mood soon changed from grumpy toddler to relieved grown up. Our wonderful guests told me not to worry about it, because they had done much worse. We are all more than a little attached to our smartphones and mobile devices.
Steve assured me that I needed to take the passcode seriously, as a way to protect my data: what if someone got their hands on my phone? I did a little research and found a lot of support for the change to six digit passcodes. Cadie Thompson writes, “With a four digit PIN, there are a possible 10,000 combinations. But with a six digit code, there are 1 million possible combos, making it a lot tougher for someone to crack your security code. “
An infographic on the topic suggests that a good hacker could get into your iPhone with the four digit passcode in as little as 18 minutes, but it would take 196 years to do that with a six digit code. Ok, with numbers like that, even this stubborn geeky grandma can see the wisdom in the change—but I don’t like the idea of suddenly not being able to use my phone. I suppose you could say that Apple got my attention!
What about you? Have you made the switch to six digit passcodes? Were you able to get your finger print to work? Are we doing enough to secure our data?
Works Cited
http://www.techinsider.io/ios-9-defaults-to-6-digit-passcode-2015-9
“Apple made a simple change in iOS 9 that will make your iPhone a lot safer.”
Thompson, Cadie. Techinsider. Sep. 16, 2015
Last Updated January 24, 2016