My Apple ID keeps getting locked

For the last two or three years my Apple ID gets locked. Sometimes two or three times a day I have to unlock it. Please don't suggest I upgrade to two-factor authentication. I have a work Apple ID that has that and it's nothing but a headache. That ID gets locked out a lot too. In that case I have to use another device to authenticate it. I have co-workers that have had to wipe iPhones and iPads because of two factor authentication. For some reason Apple has set the security alert soo low that anything can trigger being locked out of my own account. Because it's happened so much I changed my password word to something simple just because re-entering it was so tedious. That was weeks ago and still I get locked out. No fishing phone calls or emails and I always send spam to the spam folder.


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone SE (3rd generation)

Posted on Nov 21, 2023 7:27 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 5, 2024 10:35 AM

They are not useful.


Apple's AppleID authentication system is vulnerable to end user Denial Of Service attacks on individual accounts. The result is the locked account issue we are discussing here. All someone has to do is create an automated script to try a password on an Apple ID multiple times in some area where there is no "are you a robot" style challenge and they can very effectively lock your account multiple times a day.


I just unlocked my account and based upon the prior 36 prior times, I expect it to be locked again shortly.




I suspect that if someone does an AppleID DOS on an exec at Apple this will get fixed 😉



47 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 5, 2024 10:35 AM in response to WheelieNick

They are not useful.


Apple's AppleID authentication system is vulnerable to end user Denial Of Service attacks on individual accounts. The result is the locked account issue we are discussing here. All someone has to do is create an automated script to try a password on an Apple ID multiple times in some area where there is no "are you a robot" style challenge and they can very effectively lock your account multiple times a day.


I just unlocked my account and based upon the prior 36 prior times, I expect it to be locked again shortly.




I suspect that if someone does an AppleID DOS on an exec at Apple this will get fixed 😉



Jul 9, 2024 10:58 AM in response to glitchNE

glitchNE wrote:

Bill,
I think you're absolutely right.
Apple ignores these discussions and we're left to our own to create a collaborative solution but unfortunately this has to be solved by Apple. This Apple ID I have doesn't have two factor authentication on it. If I thought that would fix the problem I'd add it but because Apple hasn't responded to these posts I worry that adding two factor authentication would just add a layer of complications to the problem and the problem would persist.

Apple does not respond to post here as this is a user to user support site. If you are looking for support from Apple directly, then you will need to contact them here.

Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support


If you Apple ID is out there where others are attempting to guess the password and locks you out of your account, then create a new email address and change your Apple ID to this new email address. You can continue to use your previous email address, it just will no longer be your Apple ID.

Change your Apple ID - Apple Support


Jul 18, 2024 7:52 AM in response to BillCerniuk

You just need to change your Apple ID email to one that has not been used as an Apple ID before. You don't need to abandon any of your prior email addresses and can continue to use them to send/receive emails. There is no need to change your phone number.


The problem is not that Apple does not have their security act together, it is because they do take account security seriously and locks your account when another bad actor is attempting to access it. I know you do not agree with this approach, but your Apple ID is in the hands of people/bots that are trying to get into your account and the resolution is to change it. That is a huge red flag that you are being targeted and I would not ignore it.

Jul 11, 2024 4:02 PM in response to glitchNE

The answer is simple. Change your Apple ID to a new email address. There is no data loss!!

Change your Apple ID - Apple Support


There is no reason to give out your Apple ID and would recommend to use a different email address for any service other than Apple. If using iCloud+, you are given the option to use Hide My Email, to create your own email addresses that can be easily managed.


That is all that needs done and the problem is solved.

Nov 21, 2023 7:52 AM in response to WheelieNick

I clicked the link you provided. That was a waste of 5 minutes. Round and round and keeps telling me the same stuff and still my account gets locked. I unlock it and it happens again. Twice today. iMessage forgets my user email, then every device, Desktop, laptops, iPad and iPhone remind me that "another device has been added to your account" Again and again and again. I have had this Apple ID since the 90's. I got it when I used iDisk. I have gotten several suffixs of it over the years as Apple has dumped MobileMe and various offerings.

Nov 21, 2023 9:49 AM in response to Limnos

Ahhh....done that. If you change your password you always have to change it on all devices. Not unique to Apple. These are circuitous answers. Apple has set some standards for this to happen. These standards are either too broad or lack oversight to assess their effectiveness.

When I setup this Apple ID there were probably 10 million active Apple users. Maybe. Probably more like 5 million. I was using a 9600 Powermac to run a Avid system.

There is no reasoning I can see on my end for why this keeps happening. I've made my password long and difficult and short and easy to remember. I do see online a lot of complaints about the rigidity of Apple's Two Factor Authentication. I can only speak for my own experience. Many of my co-workers, who aren't very good at either remembering passwords or don't keep track of which one is which, have had a terrible time with Apple's Two Factor Authentication.

I have never been hacked either on my computer or my devices. This issue has continued from one new devie to the other. New iPhone in June? Same issue. New iPad last year? Same issue.

Guys it's not me.


Nov 21, 2023 1:05 PM in response to glitchNE

I know people with 20+ year old accounts and no 2 factor and they don't have issues with their accounts locking. It could be it is because you are not using two factor that the account locks. Somebody is trying to hack your account and causing it to lock after too many tries. Having two factor would mean your account would not lock (but you might get a lot of texts with verification codes).

Nov 21, 2023 2:33 PM in response to Limnos

This has been suggested to me before. Thanks for replying all.

I don't use the email aspect of the Apple ID account very often. Mostly with persons who've know me for decades and it's in their address book. However I've had my gmail account almost as long. I get frequent warnings that "It's on the Dark Web" on my credit score but I still have 800+ and I don't have two factor authentication with Google and it's never locked me out or asked for more that than my password. I change that password often.

I return to my earlier theory. Apple has set the security alert soo low that anything can trigger being locked out of your account. I sort of feel that the rest of us are in the way of Apple's sensitivity to celebrity phone hacks that used to happen very frequently. I could be wrong.

Nov 21, 2023 4:39 PM in response to Limnos

If someone out in the world has this email/Apple ID and runs a bot to hack accounts then there's nothing I can do. Even getting Two Factor Authentication won't help.

However that being said, my gmail has been out there and is my main email account. Never hacked. Like I said. Apple's threshold for security seems too low if I'm constantly having to do this. Perhaps people could have the option of reducing this threshold. I have no saved credit card with Apple. I don't have Apple Music and I don't think I've bought an app in years. I just use macs. A lot of them.

Here's another fact though it shouldn't make a difference. I don't have a passcode or Touch ID enabled on my iPhone or iPad Air 5. I don't use Apple Wallet (I worry it adds a layer of complication to my purchases). My credit/debit cards do just fine without it. I don't want to constantly enter a passcode and Touch ID seems to be resistant to my large fingers. I do have a business iPhone (Older 6S) with a passcode on it with a different Apple ID with Two Factor Authentication. I leave it at work. Airtags and Apple computer purchases are made with that. I keep an Airtag in each equipment bag.

Nov 21, 2023 6:40 PM in response to glitchNE

It's not really a matter of the what you know you have on the account. A hacker/thief won't know that until they actually break in so any account for them is a potential target.


Apple will understandably set their own limits as to what they find acceptable security. Many people do use Apple software for financial transactions and purchases. If somebody gets into their accounts it creates a mess not only for the individual but also for Apple who then have to deal with compromised accounts and data.


I see very few people who complain about having their accounts locked multiple times per day. I have a lot of 10 year old hardware with 10 year old software but have never had issues with my account so all I can wonder is what you are doing that makes you a target. My email address has been on the Internet for the past 30 years and I have yet to see any attempts to break into any of my accounts. So again, I think your first step is to look at what kind of locking you are seeing (Apple has several kinds, from account security to transaction security) and then what you are doing that might trigger that. Very, very few others seem to have issue with this.


Good luck.

Nov 21, 2023 10:04 PM in response to Limnos

I'm here because I've exhausted what I can do on my end. I do take exception to your statement that very, very few others seem to have issue with this. I googled it and it seems to be more than infrequent. In fact there is a small industry of apps dedicated to solving just this problem.

I can't for the life of me think of anything I've done that would cause this. It started to happen after either Apple started to ask me to add two factor authentication to the ID or when they started emailing me every time I signed into iCloud in my browser (as if signing into iCloud in a browser is risky). That was probably 3 or 4 years ago. The locking out sometimes will not happen for 2 or 3 weeks and then start up again. I really don't think there are people constantly trying to access my account.

I only replaced my iPhone 6s this year. I replace my computers more often than my iPhone. I usually get one a year. Between my edit work station or home work station or laptop. I also buy at least 3-4 a year for my company. I usually do the buying and setup.

Though I could be wrong I suspect that some how Apple has gotten into their head that old accounts that have never had issues and aren't upgraded to Two Factor Authentication are some how more risky than there were before. Like you said Apple is free to do this but my google account is much more frequently used, has been "noticed on the Dark Web" and I send attachments, link to docs and bounce in and out of various Google Drives (both mine and my co-workers).

I really feel this has more to do with the appearance of security rather than real security.

Nov 22, 2023 6:52 PM in response to glitchNE

I have a 20 year old account with no two factor (so does my wife). I have never had it become disabled or lock me out. It is not something happening because Apple is targeting users who don't use two factor. The only things I notice by not using two factor are not being able to do certain things where Apple insists that you use two factor, plus seeing a nag whenever I log in.


As for searching for an issue, of course you'll see all the complaints. That's because people don't go on web sites to say they have never had any issues with being locked out. They only post because they have problems. 99.9% of the topics you see on the forums here are by somebody posting about a problem they are having with an Apple device. That's because only those with problems post here, not because 99.9% of Apple product users are having a problem.

Nov 22, 2023 7:41 PM in response to Limnos

Not sure that your logic is dialectic but whatever. I've been on macs for decades and there's not much about using them that I don't know but that being said Apple's answers online are circular and in the end...it keeps happening.

If my .Mac email or associated Apple ID was "out there" I would expect at least a ton of junk email... no nothing. None of these answers actually move the issue along. It still keeps happening. Twice today.

BTW, I sometimes don't get messages on my Mac because it's logged iMessage out. That was the result today when I didn't get a text from my daughter on my MBA while I was working saying when she was arriving for Thanksgiving. I had to log out on my MBA and then retrieve my iPhone and turn off iMessage. Then put them both back on it. Then iMessage on my MBA showed my cellphone number.

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My Apple ID keeps getting locked

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