Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Why you shouldn’t rely on Apple-generated passwords when tethering your iPhone

Published Jun 20th, 2013 8:30PM EDT
iPhone Tethering Passwords Hack

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

If you’re using your iPhone as your personal Wi-Fi hotspot in a public place, you may want to skip Apple’s offer of creating a makeshift password for you. ZDNet reports that “researchers at the University of Erlangen in Germany have found a flaw in the automatically generated pre-shared keys used in Apple’s iOS hotspots that could make them susceptible to attack in under a minute.” The big issue, the researchers say, is that iOS generates passwords too predictably by using a limited number of dictionary words followed by a random sequence of numbers. Because this limits the number of passwords iOS can generate, it leaves users vulnerable to hackers who have a list of words that iOS most often gives for temporary passwords. Essentially, you’re much better off relying on your own complex password when tethering devices to your iPhone than you are using Apple’s makeshift password system.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.