Today, we’re happy to announce the availability of a simple, powerful tool that our iOS customers can use to help protect their Evernote account from unauthorized access.
Evernote has implemented the 1Password iOS App Extension, provided by AgileBits, a well-known development team based in Toronto, Canada. As of today if you have the 1Password app installed on your iOS device you can:
- Use 1Password to generate and store a strong, unique password for Evernote when you set up your account or if you need to change your password to be more secure
- Login to the Evernote application by using 1Password on your iOS devices
- Optionally, you can pair your use of 1Password with iOS Touch ID, a biometric security feature, to further strengthen your application security
Why use a password manager?
“You should use a unique password for each service you use,” says Rich Tener, head of Security for Evernote. “This includes Evernote, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Yahoo, LinkedIn, and your online banking sites. The reasoning behind this is that if someone steals one of your passwords or hacks a service that you use, they will not gain access to all of your accounts.”
Here are some more fundamental tactics that you can use to keep your important information private and safe:
- Use a strong, unique password every time you create new accounts, anywhere that requires a secure login.
- Protect your collection of strong, unique passwords behind a master password (also strong and unique) that you have memorized.
- Activate and use a two-step verification process when you log into your apps or secure accounts, whenever such a system is available to you.
- If a mobile application provides PIN lock functionality, use it. This type of system protects your account from abuse when you are already logged into an application. For example, when you let your child use your mobile, an application PIN lock can prevent the deletion of your important data by mistake.
- Activate and use PIN or biometric locks that are provided by your mobile device manufacturer.
A password manager, like 1Password, can help you with steps one and two above. The Evernote service and application can help you with steps three and four above.
How it works
Humans are not good at remembering hundreds of passwords. Password vaults like 1Password provide a way for you to create very strong, random and unique passwords for every password-protected application or service you use. By letting the password vault generate and store the passwords until you need them, you effectively never need to memorize those passwords. 1Password handles this task for you, and keeps them secure behind a master password you memorize. 1Password also synchronizes your password database to every device that you use, including your iOS, PC, Mac or Android devices, so you have your passwords whenever and wherever you need them.
For developers
If you’re a developer and want to implement the 1Password iOS App Extension for your own iOS application, we have some good news for you. “AgileBits gave us a simple, well-documented API to add this powerful feature,” says Chuck Pletcher, Director, iOS product management. “The developer who worked on this project, Mike Greiner, budgeted about half a week for this project, but he had it completed before lunch the first day. It took longer to make a demo video than it took to build the integration.” Visit the 1Password Github pages to learn more about the app extension.
It’s optional, but…
You do not need to use 1Password or another password vault to generate your strong passwords and/or help you access your Evernote account. Nor are you required to create a unique password for your Evernote account. This is entirely optional for you, but we highly recommend that you take charge of your personal security before you experience an unfortunate event. When it comes to data security, an attack can be devastating and challenging to recover from.
Availability
We’ve implemented this new integration for iOS devices, but if you’re using Evernote for Android, you too can use 1Password with your Evernote account. 1Password supports automatic filling in of login details in all versions of Android from v.4.3 onward. You can learn more about their Android support here: support.1password.com/guides/android/filling
If you decide to enhance your personal security while using Evernote, we recommend 1Password.
- Install 1Password for iOS from the Apple iTunes store
- Install 1Password for Android from the Google Play store
To learn more about setting up two-step verification in Evernote, see our Help & Learning article.
If you’re curious, you can learn more about Evernote’s security stance on our Security overview page: evernote.com/security
