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iOS 7 Allows Siri to Disable Find My iPhone via Airplane Mode in Security/Convenience Trade-Off

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,533
30,842



In iOS 7, Siri can change a number of settings on the iPhone, including toggling Bluetooth on and off or changing the screen brightness. As one MacRumors reader noticed, Siri can also activate Airplane Mode, even if a passcode lock is set, allowing a thief to effectively disable Find My iPhone on a stolen device.

airplanemode.jpg
However, Apple has added some extensive security features to deter phone theft in iOS 7, most notably the Activation Lock feature that prevents a lost or stolen iPhone from being activated without the Apple ID password used to erase the phone.

Activation Lock makes it so that even if a phone is stolen, Find My iPhone disabled, and then erased, the phone is still unable to be activated and used without the proper Apple ID.

San Francisco District Attorney came out in support of Activation Lock, saying that "clear improvements" had been made to deter criminals.

Update: Commenters have noted that users can also turn Airplane Mode on from the Control Center by swiping up from the lock screen. Lock screen Control Center access can be disabled from the Settings/Control Center panel. Find My iPhone can also be effectively disabled by turning the phone off.

Thanks Greg!

Article Link: iOS 7 Allows Siri to Disable Find My iPhone via Airplane Mode in Security/Convenience Trade-Off
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/09/18/ios-7-security-flaw-allows-siri-to-disable-find-my-iphone/
T

TheKrs1

macrumors 6502
Apr 11, 2010
357
128
To be fair, this doesn't actually disable Find my Phone. It just interrupts the connectivity of the device. Which they could also do by powering off the phone, or putting in an area with no service?
 
sshhoott

sshhoott

macrumors 6502
Feb 6, 2010
304
0
What if this is a trick which makes the thief think Find my iPhone is off when it really is on.
 
C

campingsk8er

macrumors 6502a
Feb 4, 2011
548
248
Elizabethtown, PA
Sometimes, I think its worse to announce things, such as this, allowing a thief to effectively do this. I'm not saying things don't fall through, but how is it that all of us developers( and even more non-developers) had iOS7 for 3 months now, and it hasn't come up until now?
 
K

killramos

macrumors member
May 8, 2008
58
161
This isn't a bug or even news worthy. You can also enable airplane mode by swiping up on the lock screen WITHOUT your pass code . It's a feature, not a bug lol...

I find it quite convenient...
 
wordoflife

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
So now what do you do when you have a phone that isn't connected to cellular or Wifi, and you don't know the password :confused:

But yeah they should fix that, I guess. At the same time, the same could be achieved by popping out the SIM.
 
Solomani

Solomani

macrumors 601
Sep 25, 2012
4,785
10,477
Slapfish, North Carolina
Thief: Siri, enable Airplane Mode.

Siri: Yes, of course. As soon as I identify your valid fingerprint, Sir.

Thief: Damn you, Siri! Damn you!

Siri: (quietly reporting the location of thief to authorities and stolen iPhone registry)
 
T

TheKrs1

macrumors 6502
Apr 11, 2010
357
128
campingsk8er said:
Sometimes, I think its worse to announce things, such as this, allowing a thief to effectively do this. I'm not saying things don't fall through, but how is it that all of us developers( and even more non-developers) had iOS7 for 3 months now, and it hasn't come up until now?
Click to expand...

Because it isn't a flaw with Find My iPhone. It doesn't disable the app or the functionality. Someone is just jumping up and down because a theif can use siri to disable the phones radios, thereby hindering Find my iPhone from tracking the device. ... Which, the theif can just as easily do by turning the device off.
 
Last edited:
J

joejoejoe

macrumors 65816
Sep 13, 2006
1,428
110
They should remove the functionality from Siri, but being that Airplane Mode is also controlled by control center, that won't really help the average user.

Apple should necessitate a passcode to turn on airplane mode and to turn off the phone. Will be easier for users to swallow once the fingerprint sensor becomes more ubiquitous but this is really the only way we can fully prevent thieves from disabling find my iphone quickly.
 
nikhsub1

nikhsub1

macrumors 68030
Jun 19, 2007
2,593
2,570
mmmm... jessica.'s beer...
Anyone who has siri enabled when the phone is locked is asking for trouble... if you DISABLE siri on the lockscreen, there is no issue whatsoever. However, as stated you can turn airplane mode on via control center anyway...
 
Rogifan

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,137
31,195
More nothing stories just to increase page views. If this is such a security flaw why is it just coming up now when devs have had iOS for months?
 
G

Gjwilly

macrumors 68040
May 1, 2011
3,216
701
SF Bay Area
This is a total non-story.
Is turning off the phone also a security flaw because that also disables Find My iPhone?
What's the thief going to do?
Keep it in Airplane mode forever and just get his jollies playing with your Angry Birds?
:rolleyes:
 
M

mrbrown

macrumors 6502a
Mar 27, 2004
563
240
Springfield, Missouri
This headline is totally misleading. It's one thing if you could tell Siri, "Disable Find my iPhone" while it was locked... it's something totally different if you can just enable Airplane Mode.
 
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