TidBITS has a great post on how Apple secures the iCloud keychain. An Apple device will remember passwords to sites you visit, WiFi nodes you join, and many other things. If you don’t do anything special, these credentials will be stored only on your local device. But it is also possible to sync them across all you Apple devices or even back them up on iCloud.
If you’re like me, you’re paranoid about this. Why would you ever trust the crown jewels to a third party? As the TidBITS article makes clear, Apple has gone to great lengths to ensure that trusting Apple with your passwords is, in fact, safe. If Apple is doing what they claim—and as TidBITS points out they’d face serious legal liabilities otherwise—then it appears that it actually is safe to trust your credentials to them. Read the article and see if you don’t agree.
The article even tells you how to make your keychain safe from government snooping. If you believe your end device is secure, then you can probably depend on Apple to keep your passwords safe. If, like most people, you’re off the NSA radar, then your concern is a criminal getting your credentials. Absent physical access to your device, Apple’s security should keep you safe. They’ve done a really good job securing your information and even, if you don’t think they’re in cahoots with the NSA, keeping it safe from government snooping.
Not all Irreal readers are Apple users, of course, but if you are you’ll want to read this article. Whatever you think of Apple, they seem to have this particular area under control. Again, read the article and see if you don’t agree.