If you're thinking about turning two-factor authentication on for your Apple ID and iCloud account (a great idea, by the way!), our Tuesday Morning Report has details on a very important "gotcha" you'll want to know about before doing so. There's also some potentially good news for Bose fans, and word of another actor passing on the Steve Jobs biopic.
Report Sheds Light on Importance of Apple ID Recovery Keys
Security experts seem to unanimously agree that two-factor authentication is a must-have defense against being hacked, but is it possible the additional precaution could actually wind up doing more harm than good? Such was the case for Owen Williams of The Next Web, who filed a report Monday on how he almost lost his Apple ID for good, all because he couldn't find the recovery key generated when he first set up two-factor authentication.
As many readers know by now, two-factor authentication combines a password with an additional security layer provided by something in the user's possession — in the case of Apple IDs, an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. The problem is, an intruder attempting to gain access to an iCloud account can inadvertently trigger a lock so strong that only the original recovery key generated at the time of setup can resolve.
Apple recommends that users "print or write down" the recovery key at setup and "keep at least one copy in a safe place" other than your computer. Good advice, until that slip of paper is misplaced — say, during a recent move, as was the case for Williams. But surely Apple support can help, right? Over and over, the answer was the same: “We take your security very seriously at Apple, but we cannot help in this situation.”
Worse yet, Williams was advised to create a new Apple ID, effectively starting from scratch and potentially losing seven years' worth of iTunes purchases, not to mention the ability to remove his iPhone from the clutches of his old iCloud account.
Williams' story does wind up having a happy ending (he found a photo of the recovery key screen taken with his iPhone during setup), but sheds a rather scary light on the importance of those digits for anyone who has enabled two-factor authentication on their own Apple ID. Do you know where your recovery key is?
Apple Shelves May Soon Be Stocked with Bose Products Again
MacRumors reported Monday that Bose speakers and other products could soon wind up making a triumphant return to the shelves of Apple retail stores after being yanked worldwide back in October. According to French website iGen.fr (via Google Translate), shipments have already resumed to a number of brick-and-mortar locations, who are being instructed to "put the products back on store shelves next week."
It was never quite clear why Apple removed Bose product in the first place, although many assumed the acquisition of rival Beats Electronics may have had something to do with it. Beats also spent the summer fighting a Bose patent infringement claim over noise cancellation technology, which was resolved shortly before the hardware started vanishing from store shelves.
Actress Natalie Portman Latest to Walk Away from Jobs Biopic
No one knows exactly who she was intended to play, but actress Natalie Portman apparently won't be appearing in the untitled Steve Jobs biopic that recently jumped from Sony to Universal. Variety reported Monday that the actress has "parted ways with the female lead" in the big-budget adaptation of the official Walter Isaacson biography on the life and times of the late Apple co-founder.
Portman reportedly entered discussions with the film's producers just before Thanksgiving, but sources "don't have an exact reason" as to why the actress chose not to sign up for the project. Danny Boyle is directing from a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, with Michael Fassbender starring as Jobs and Seth Rogen playing the other Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
(Image courtesy of iDownloadBlog.com)