Apple’s iOS 9 Security Features included 6-digit passcode, Two-factor Authentication

Apple’s introduction of iOS 9, the new OS version for iOS devices, was not something huge in the end, but those little changes and upgrades are enough for the users to notice and feel good about. Improvements to Siri were much needed, and Apple has done a lot in that aspect, and there is a new Apple News app introduced as a news aggregator.

One of those areas where Apple is pretty strict most often, is the security of the personal data of the users. Leaked pictures of celebrities in the recent past has not faded away from the mind of users who always demand enhanced security from companies whose products they use. Apple has been having a strong fingerprint security, but there a few little changes that make it better in the newly introduced iOS 9, whose beta version is already available for developers.

According to Apple, “iOS 9 advances security by strengthening the passcode that protects your devices, and by making it harder for others to get unauthorized access to your Apple ID account. These new security features are easy for you to use. But they make it much harder for anyone else to access your personal information.”

Six digit passcodes

Apple’s Touch ID used to come with a passcode option, so one can try to get through the lock screen if the Touch ID doesn’t work. Nothing special, and it allowed only four digits. Now, one can go up to six digits for a passcode, instead of four. This will allow for combinations of up to one million, instead of 10,000 earlier. It gets harder to crack into.

Two-factor authentication

If someone gets to find out your password, he still won’t be able to get through into the data because of the new two-factor authentication. Signing in from a new browser will now prompt the original user for a verification code. The code is sent in one of the two ways, i.e. automatically displaying it on the other Apple devices, or by sending a code to the phone.

If there’s someone trying to login even after they get the password, it is not easy to get in. Not something that we haven’t ever seen, but to see this implemented in iOS, is surely a good advancement.

Another feature that is already there, but as we are talking about the security on iOS, here’s another thing – Erase data after failed passcode entries. There’s a setting under Touch ID & Passcode feature that would delete all the data of the iPhone or iPad if there are multiple failures of passcode entries.

Follow this iOS 9 upgrade guide if you want to manually install and try out the new iOS version, though it is a developer preview beta for now.