Apple locked users out of their Apple IDs on iPhones in what appears to be a massive outage that began on Friday. Several users took to X, Reddit, and other social media websites to report that they were randomly logged out of their Apple IDs across multiple devices. And if that was not enough, signing back in required them to force reset the password. Some users even flagged issues where app-specific passwords set up using iCloud were also reset.
Apple ID login issues
Spotted first by 9to5Mac, the issues where iPhone and other Apple devices abruptly locked their users out began sometime on Friday. The number of cases climbed rapidly if the reports on social media are anything to go by. Apple’s System Status website did not show an outage in service, but the reports of people locked out of their devices did not stop even after many hours.
The report said nearly every impacted user, who was signed out of their Apple ID across their devices and tried to sign back in using their Apple ID password, was locked out of their account. Following this, users were forced to reset their Apple ID password before logging in again. Users who had Stolen Device Protection activated on their number had new problems to deal with.
The interesting part is neither Apple acknowledged the issue, nor did anyone have a clue why this happened. However, the report hinted that this incident could have links to the password reset attacks currently on the rise in the US. While there is no way to confirm it directly, the latest cases of users getting signed out of their devices are similar to the ones in such attacks.
How to secure your Apple ID?
While these cases where users are logged out of their devices seem benign, they could potentially be a part of a hacking attempt. You can never be sure unless Apple officially acknowledges what happened. To safeguard your account from any unknown and unauthorised access, make sure you follow these steps:
— Always sign in to devices that you trust. In emergencies, where you need someone else’s device to sign in to your iCloud account, try to use your account incognito and remember to delete history.
— Turn on two-factor authentication for your Apple ID. This will help you authenticate every login to your Apple ID through prompts on already signed-in Apple devices or one-time passwords on your registered mobile number.