what is AmpDevices Agent and why does it want to know my passwords ?

And now that anyone could read the unhelpful explanation from the Apple advisor that users should trust a gold lock image in any dialog that pops up and demands access to confidential information in my keychain, the trolls and hackers worldwide know what to do:

Just copy and paste this gold lock into your ransomware. It will grant you access to all the users' secrets like an 'open Sesame' because most users don't start a search before hitting one of the buttons. Even the thoughtful users give up after they hit "Deny" several times and this box appears again and again.

I would suggest "deny always" should be added to the list. From a strict security point of view, with all due appreciation to all on this thread -- while this seems to be an Apple issue, Apple told somebody, who told it to me, but no one else on this list. Apple never explained it openly, and now that it's known, it's definitely hackable information. That does not strike me as an "allow" response. If Apple requires it, why is it not built into Catalina?

I also looked up "AmpDevices" in various search engines, and nothing shows up.

If it's Apple's request, Apple needs to tell me what it is, and why i should give it the keys to everything that I have?

Thank you all, I will keep monitoring, as I don't know even how to turn this request off.

I was getting this too after the update of the update to Catalina. Annoying. I denied and ignored it but it kept coming back after a start up. It's part of Catalina's zealous security. Contacted support, had a long call from and advisor. She admitted Apple have not explained this very well when I told her that people are wary about handing over their Mac passwords to unknown dialogue boxes. She said to note the gold padlock in the dialogue box - this indicates that it's to do with your Mac's security. Although she didn't explain what an "AMP Device" meant, it seems to occur if you have an external hard drive connected - mine is a Time Capsule. 'Always Allow' it once and it goes away.

Thanks SteveJolliffe, well done. This was driving me bonkers. Good to know what it is (sorta – wish Apple explained it). Like you, I was wary about handing over Mac passwords to unknown dialogue boxes.

As a side note, "updating" to Catalina is easily the most troublesome mess I've dealt with since switching from OS 9 to OS X eons ago. None of my trusted legacy 32-bit design/art apps run anymore. Had Apple bothered to make this fact crystal clear, I would never have hit the download button. I lost two full days of billable time (with my blood pressure through the roof) and missed a client deadline. Grrrr.

I don't get the padlock its a caution sign that's wanting me allow incoming connections ???.

AMPDevicesAgent is a macOS component used for iOS device synchronization.

Apple could have been more forthcoming with its appearance but it's normal.

Thanks for that. Thought it could have been though synchronising makes sense.

It's part of Catalina. I got this response from Apple Support when I was asking about a related issue:

I have that as well, I am denying it access. Funny how there is a deafening silence about this

tell FaceTime free for have ties or Markus

A very vague response from Apple that does not address our security concerns. We need an explicit answers concerning who can access our personal information and how safe it is to allow access.

what is AmpDevices Agent and why does it want to know my passwords ?

Weird ive just let firewall allow everything. Think that its in the best interests too let it through mostly yet explaining its purpose, Apple should show what it works with and for what.