New Apple Update to Introduce ‘Stolen Device Protection’ Feature for iPhone Security

The iPhone is a favorite target for thieves. In recent years, Apple has taken a number of measures to make it difficult to gain access to a stolen mobile phone, but it has not been enough.

According to Extra Magazine hair Wall Street Journal in several articles described how thieves have:

• seen a victim enter the code on their iPhone,
• to then steal the iPhone,
• and finally use the code to lock the owner out of their iCloud account,
• and thus gain access to personal data and then spend thousands of dollars using stored payment information

Hate passwords? Good news

«Stolen Device Protection»

However, in the next update of iOS, version 17.3, Apple plans to put an end to this practice with a new feature called “Stolen Device Protection”, writes The Verge.

Photo: Apple Show more

If this is enabled, iPhone will require biometric identification (via FaceID or TouchID) to perform a number of actions, such as viewing saved passwords in iCloud Keychain, using saved payment information in Safari, resetting devices to factory settings, or turning off Lost Mode.

For even more vulnerable actions, such as changing your Apple ID password, changing your iPhone passcode, or turning off the Where Am I service, an additional barrier is added. This kicks in if the device is not where you travel often, such as at home or at work, and makes you have to wait an hour and repeat the biometric authentication once more.

That’s why you need to update your iPhone

“A sophisticated layer of protection”

– Encryption of data on the iPhone has long been a leader in the industry, and a thief cannot access data on a stolen iPhone without knowing the user’s password, says Apple spokesperson Scott Radcliffe in a statement to The Verge.

– In the rare cases where a thief can observe the user entering the password and then steal the device, Stolen Device Protection adds a sophisticated new layer of protection, he says.

American Macworld however, points out that this won’t prevent a thief from unlocking your iPhone, and it can still access apps that aren’t password protected. The thief can also open your e-mail and obtain your password from there.

When iOS 17.3 will be released is unknown. Apple released the first test version of the software last week.

To enable the feature, you should be able to go to Settings and then tap on FaceID and passcode (or Touch ID and passcode) and scroll down to find “Stolen device protection”.

2023-12-19 22:08:59
#stop #thieves