Account keeps getting locked for security reasons and requires me to change my password constantly last couple weeks

I have this too. It's a bug. At first I thought it was someone who knows me and was trying to lock my account on purpose repeatedly. Now I think it's either an iOS 14 bug, or Apple being victim of Russian/Chinese hackers and they don't want to let us know and come clean about what's going on.

My iCloud account keeps being locked every other day for over two months now. The service is just not fit for purpose anymore. Coming from the wealthiest company in the world, it's pretty appalling.

Each time, I have to log back in on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. And for each device I have to log back in to the App Store, iMessage and FaceTime. That's like entering the password 12 times, plus 2-3 times more for unlocking the iCloud account via email. 15 times!!!

Apple should be ashamed of such a poor security process. It shows it's so poorly built that they don't know what they're doing. A normal users shouldn't have to unlock their account nearly 50 times in 2 months without being told what's going on. Multiply that by 15 times having to enter the password and that's over 500 times of re-entering the password for this broken iCloud service!!! Complete madness.

I've spoken to Apple Support extensively and they were useless. Nothing they suggested fixed this issue. I bet they don't have a clue what's going on because the issue is much more serious, and copy pasting useless Apple support articles does not help in this case.

This is spot on and exactly how it feels. Pure harassement.

And the users on this discussions forum quoting our issues and then copy/pasting their useless solutions (all tried already as we've mentioned multiple times) is also harassement at this stage. Again, for the wealthiest company in the world to be unable to look into this and fix the issue swiftly, this is absolutely appalling and also alarming.

I can't help but think Apple hasn't been keeping iCloud secure for a long time and they know it. The whole thing must be a mess like an old tyre that has been patched up with spaghetti code too many times and can't be fixed anymore.

This thread had 20 "I have this question too" 48 hours ago. It now has 52. If Apple can't flag this as being an alarming and serious situation, I guess all hope is lost and Apple is like Facebook, Google and the likes, mishandling our sensitive personal data.

Suisho13 Said:

"Why does my account keep getting locked? I’ve looked through everything and there have been no new downloads or purchases made. Only my device is set to my Apple ID account. I’ve had to change my password multiple times already.

What’s going on?"

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Fixing Being Locked Out:

Visit this Link: If your Apple ID is Locked or Disabled - Apple Support

Why Accounts Become Disabled:

When your iTunes Account has been disabled, and that often happens due to suspicious activity --- Perhaps nothing on your part. They disable it for no more than Security & Privacy concerns.

Possible Reasons Could Include: 

• Too many unsuccessful login attempts
• VPN (Virtual Private Network) usage
• Consistent transactions
• Session Times Out
• Disobeying Terms & Conditions

"Account keeps getting locked for security reasons and requires me to change my password constantly last couple weeks"

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To Re-Enable your Account:

As you might suspect, no one here would know the reason for this occurrence, of course. So, contact Apple Support. They’ll know why this occurred and will run you right through the fix.

Contact Apple Support:

• Contact Us - Choose Locations
• Proceed from there as necessary

Note: Phone calls are taking a bit to go through at the moment, due do lots of calls. With the Coronavirus Pandemic, many are at home at the moment, with much time on their hands to contact Apple. So, just stay on the line, and you will get through :)

Use Malwarebytes for Mac:

A consistent reset seems a bit phishy. Malwarebytes for Mac is software that searches for malware/adware. So, scan with it and then remove what is found. Once removed, uninstall MalwareBytes for Mac. Then restart the Mac. It is created by longtime users of these forums. So, that is why it is the only way to go about securing your Mac, when it comes through use of software 

Downloads:

1. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac
2. Malwarebytes uninstaller

Despaire Said:

"Account keeps getting locked for security reasons and required me to change my password constantly last couple weeks: same annoying issue here!!“

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To the OP and others he getting this: occurrence.

Perform the Following:

A. Scan with Malwarebytes for Mac:

Malwarebytes searches for malware(short for (malicious software) and spyware. Those make your Mac act in a mislead manor. So scan with it, and remove what is found from the quarantine. It is created by longtime users of these forums making it the only reliable Security Software for a Mac.

Downloads:

1. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac
2. Malwarebytes Uninstaller

B. Modify your Credentials:

With Security & Privacy being of High-Concern here, consider modifying your credentials, immediately. Pefroming the following is best at this point.  Seeing this being reported 5 days later - I’m assuming someone is trying to hack into your account. They may have confiscated your credentials somehow. So, Consider...

• Modifying: your login credentials (using both a New eMail and a New Password) for Apple and each and all sites
• Associating: a different method of payment to your account
• Enabling: Two-Factor Authentication for Apple ID and for all other accounts that have such an applicable option

lukatibo Said:

"[...]At first I thought it was someone who knows me and was trying to lock my account on purpose repeatedly.[...]"

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Modify your Credentials:

With Security & Privacy being of High-Concern here, consider modifying your credentials, immediately. Pefroming the following is best at this point.  Seeing this being reported 5 days later - I’m assuming someone is trying to hack into your account. They may have confiscated your credentials somehow. So, Consider...

• Modifying: your login credentials (using both a New eMail and a New Password) for Apple and each and all sites
• Associating: a different method of payment to your account
• Enabling: Two-Factor Authentication for Apple ID and for all other accounts that have such an applicable option

Why a New eMail Address?:

With a different eMail address, there is less likely someone to enter your eMail address, should they be trying to do so (which is a pure reason as to why an account can be locked: Multiple unsuccessful log in attempts).

I think its an Apple glitch as well. Read where issues with many signing into new devices from Christmas presents. No idea if their fix for that is messing up those like us, being locked out repeatably for security reasons. Just know I had no issue before. Even stranger was my card on file had to be verified but it had been verified eons ago as valid. So glad to finally read where others are having the same issue and suspect its on Apple’s end.

Update: I've been logged out of this account on all of my equipment since my last post on here. For all intensive purposes the account was dormant, yet I had to unlock it to post this very message. So I think that's pretty conclusive evidence that something is happening at the server end with regards our accounts getting locked and it's not a user equipment issue.

Additionally, A little heads up for you guys. I received my first Apple phishing email this morning, informing me that this very account has been locked. So I'm staring to suspect either a security breach at Apples end ( they'll never admit to that and have informed me that my account is not being locked because of one) or my account is being targeted (never been informed it has). Either way, I cannot keep changing the password to this account every day. It's getting ridiculous. I need to speak to an Apple engineer

Same here in this household, 4 iphones, 4 macs, ipad, 4 watches all randomly ask to log back into icloud, imessage, podcast, app store. Something is wrong Apple !!! It started about 1 1/2 months ago for us.

You can also add 2 Factor Authentication to your account for more security. If the attempts continue, you might want to consider a name change.

Link to contact Apple Support in the article.

Apple ID has been compromised.      

Security and your Apple ID.      

Note the restrictions in the article.

Apple ID Name Change.        

 What to do after you change your Apple ID or password - Apple Support    I suggest doing this before you change your Apple ID or password.

Apple ID -Two-factor authentication          

Two Factor Authentification availability.    

2 Factor Authentication - How to generate a recovery key

Apple ID - Using app-specific passwords.     

Apple ID - Two Step Verifications FAQ    

I turned 2FA on once by accident and turned it off again. They may have discontinued the two week grace period, but this Apple Support article says it still exists and outlines the process. If this problem persists (or if I accidentally enable it again) then I will give it an try.

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT204915

I’m sorry you’re going through this. I’ve definitely had my issues with Apple but if this is a bug it honestly hasn’t been that long. I realize it seems so to you and all the others with the issue. I can’t imagine Apple is pleased with so many users having this issue. Imagine how many calls Apple Support also receives. Even though there has been updates, if there’s a bug it’s going to be an update that addresses it. This is just a guess based on previous experience . It very well could be wrong. I’ve been following the thread and realize that that they’re are other very strong opinions and assessments. Continuing to report your feedback will help.

https://www.apple.com/feedback/

I have had this problem too, getting locked out at least once a day, but some times up to 3 times in the same day. I had an online chat with Apple support about it, and I learned a few things during that chat and after trying some things:

• You can enable 2FA, then disable it within 2 weeks to test things
• After enabling 2FA, you get an email from Apple with a "magic link" clicking on it (within 2 weeks) is the way to disable 2FA
• Once I enabled 2FA (mid January 2021), the problem went away completely
• After 13 days, just before my 2 weeks was up, I disabled 2FA (disabling 2FA -requires- you to change your password)
• After disabling 2FA, the problem started up again, up to 3 times a day

So I tried putting my iPhone (X) in airplane mode. I then logged out of iCloud/Apple on my MacBook Pro (2012) and closed the lid to sleep the machine. Finally, I logged out of iCloud/Apple on my iMac (2019) and my Mac Pro (5,1). This left my iPad (4) as the only device logged in. And STILL the problem happened. As an example, the moment I took my phone out of airplane mode, the "account locked" message came up.

Although I acknowledge the nuisance that 2FA was in the early days, during my 13 days with 2FA enabled (1 day short of the 2-week point-of-no-return) I did not encounter -any- nuisance authentication requests. In other words, I was never once challenged to have to enter an authorization code sent to my iPhone in order to "do" anything on any other device. When you enable 2FA, you do have to log into each device now that 2FA is enabled, and when doing so you get some type of notification that the device you're logging into is now a known trusted device. Now that it's a trusted device, you won't get challenged by 2FA for any authorization code for anything you do on THAT device. And so, since all of my devices were trusted, I never once saw a 2FA challenge during the 13-day period. I'm pretty sure that if I got some new device during that time and tried to set up iCloud on it, I'd be challenged by 2FA one time for that new device, but then it would be trusted. 

My point is: like many of you here, I've resisted 2FA for a very long time, and even disabled it 13 days after enabling it. But, I have to say that life with 2FA didn't actually have any of the nuisances that were reported by people in the long ago past, and if I cannot get to the bottom of this with 2FA disabled, I will probably end up re-enabling 2FA and letting that become permanent by allowing it to stay enabled past the 14 days. Because it DID solve the "account locked" problem for me.

I have this too. At first I thought it was a real security issue but it has to be a bug. I'm also, at the same time, having a problem with Podcasts App. Keeps asking me to sign in then disappears. I've rebooted a number off times. Others have mentioned this too but it seems there is no solution. Being on latest software update has made no difference