Apple publishes guide to check browser security while visiting iCloud website

BY Evan Selleck

Published 21 Oct 2014

image Safari certificate check

Recent events that have centered around Apple’s iCloud website have prompted the Cupertino-based company to publish a dedicated page on how to check your browser’s security while visiting websites.

On Monday, October 20, it was reported that the Chinese government was playing a role in phishing iCloud account holders with a website that looked almost identical to the real iCloud.com. As a result, Apple has published a dedicated webpage that outlines the steps that a visiter can take to make sure that a website, like iCloud’s, is safe as they make their way through it. The idea is to make sure, to verify, that the website is a safe one, and whether or not it’s safe enough to enter any personal information — like a user ID and password.

The quickest way to verify if iCloud.com is safe is to see if the URL bar highlights green and the text ‘Apple Inc.’ with a green lock appears after the page loads.

Apple also indicates ways to check if a page is safe through other browsers like Firefox and Chrome:

The iCloud website is protected with a digital certificate. If users get an invalid certificate warning in their browser while visiting www.icloud.com, they should pay attention to the warning and not proceed. Users should never enter their Apple ID or password into a website that presents a certificate warning. To verify that they are connected to the authentic iCloud website, users can check the contents of the digital certificate as shown below for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox—each of which provides both certificate information and warnings.

You can find the full text on how to make sure you’re browsing is safe when you visit iCloud.com through the support page, which is linked below.

[via Apple Support]