The App Store upgrades security

[dgstorm]

The App Store has become one of the most popular destinations for Apple shoppers all over the world. But, with fame and over-exposure comes the threat of security breaches, and the App Store is no longer a stranger to that. Apple is well aware of the issues and is already working on ways to solve them.

There have been reports of users’ accounts being broken into while their credit card bill was piling up the costs of some pretty expensive apps. The users who experienced the inconveniences often choose a weak password that hackers can easily intercept. But this problem is not specific to the App Store, not by a long shot; users choosing weak passwords has been a real problem for numerous sites worldwide.

So what did Apple do? Well, it now asks registered users with an Apple ID to select three security questions and custom answers whenever they want to download a game or an app from the store. A second email will be requested of users, just in case there’s some rescuing to be made at some point.

Once you submit the information, a verification email is sent to your inbox, with Apple indicating that the second email won’t be used except in case of an emergency.

It seems quite logical that Apple would go to all that troubles to prevent security breaches, especially since the Mac department has been having a lot of problems due to the Flashback Trojan attacks. Playing it safe is a lot smarter.

By Radu

Source: Apple Tightens iTunes and App Store Security | iTunes & iPhones | Mobile Security & Smartphones | SecurityNewsDaily.com

 

[spicycocoa]

Thanks for this post I was concerned I'd been hacked when I saw the requests for security questions and 2nd email!