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Apple and Other Smartphone Makers Back Global Anti-Theft Measures
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How will they prevent the downside of joe user's mobile device getting wiped and deactivated by an ex-employee/friend/spouse who has shoulder surfed their too-short password?
It already has...
There has been multiple threads on here and other websites about people having this done to them. eBay has made it mandatory that you wipe your iPhone before selling it to assure it isn't connected to iCloud, but there isn't really anyway of determining if it's wiped or not, so everybody still sells while connected. -_-
A gimmick that most 5S owners use daily? I guess by definition it wouldn't be a gimmick then...
Of course they all back it. Makes it more difficult for a smaller competitor to come along and offer something unique to the market.
Laws like this are ridiculous. The free market has already created a smartphone with this technology, and if people want to be safe, they will buy the phones that offer it.
Laws like this are ridiculous. The free market has already created a smartphone with this technology, and if people want to be safe, they will buy the phones that offer it.
It's not a law... "Voluntary agreement" is even in the first sentence...
And yes, laws like the proposed ones mentioned in the article need to be made. People don't make rational decisions when it comes to smartphones. Most don't lock their devices with a passcode, and to my knowledge, Apple is the only device maker so far to include an easy-to-use lock-and-locate feature (Find my iPhone) and a security system that's so easy to use (Touch ID), you'd be silly not to use it. Without rational decision making, the free market doesn't necessarily produce the best result, and these highly profitable, easy-to-steal devices without anti-theft features would continue to be stolen and sold. And because of those irrational people who don't buy phones with anti-theft features, thieves target all phone owners, including me, the rational one with the phone with anti-theft features.
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Kudos to these other companies for doing this now, but they took way too long to do it. If/when LG jumps on board, that pretty much runs the manufacturer gamut too.
(BlackBerry devices have built-in anti-theft features in that thieves probably throw BlackBerries back at their owners after realizing what they just stole... Buh dum, tss!)
More stupidity for the left coast.
The best solution for this type if crime is a short rope and a tall tree. I never really understood our reluctance to deal harshly with the lazy people in society. By the way such a punishment needs to apply to all criminal theft no matter what the age of the criminal.
The best solution for this type if crime is a short rope and a tall tree. I never really understood our reluctance to deal harshly with the lazy people in society. By the way such a punishment needs to apply to all criminal theft no matter what the age of the criminal.
Make a stronger password so people can't guess it. Employees and friends have no right having your iTunes info, and if they can guess it, you didn't make it strong enough. Ex-spouse, change your password with they become your ex.. They are an ex for a reason.
Did people have any issue before cell phones came around? One keep going with that line of questioning.
The answer to this one is no, I've been around a lot longer than cell phones.
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Obviously it's no deterrent to idiocy.
What more can Apple do? What will a "kill switch" stop that activation lock won't? As always, crack down on everyone else but the actual criminals. Wouldn't want to offend them...
Being held up or having a valuable pickpocketed has been an issue a little longer than smartphones have been around
And this is why touch ID is so revolutionary, you can't shoulder surf a fingerprint.
And yes, I know that with a lot of trouble you could probably defeated it, but most "ex-employee/friend/spouse " would not have a clue how.
A kill switch feature could actually cause more violent crime. Instead of just stealing someone's iPhone, now you have to kill them so they can't disable it remotely.
in the U.S. people are killed for shoes so it's a possibility
in the U.S. people are killed for shoes so it's a possibility
Being held up or having a valuable pickpocketed has been an issue a little longer than smartphones have been around
Your point?
How would that be possible without any power? At the very least you'd need a small trickle of power to the GPS device.
I'm not sure they're any worse then a guy with a brick trying to enter my house.
Life man
Life
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And how useful was passport ?o
How useful was mobile me?
How useful was newton?
You jailbreak an iPhone, any "anti-theft" OS feature is easily thwarted with a side loaded flash upgrade. In security speak, this kill switch features is a "six foot fence" that deters but will not stop those with determination.
According to several web sites, there are lots of active rings full of career pick pockets stealing smartphones, placing them in Faraday bags, handing them over to a local mastermind whom side loads a jailbreak flash update (some even spoof the CPU and MAC ID's) into the stolen devices.
When enough are collected, the mastermind passes them off to grey and black market sales where Apple had no official distribution. Southeast Asia, eastern Europe, Russia and African countries are quite interested in the latest Apple products.
Cant this already be done? My gf lost her iPhone so since I knew her login info I remotely wiped it and locked.
Am I missing something?
Am I missing something?
Well you can circumvent it on the device too
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Yeah, this is complete horse ****. I guarantee nobody has actually figured out how to surpass Activation Lock locally on a device higher than A4.
I can't see how Apple's solution is deemed successful either tbh. We all know if you turn it off, remove sim or put it in flight mode then theres no data trail to be able to lock/wipe or track the phone.
For security on new iPhones to work then a password can't be optional. It must be required whenever trying to turn on or off anything that interferes with data or network signal, this includes wanting to remove the sim or turn offthe phone. Even when offthe phone should still put out a location signal like a low powered beacon to allow tracking.
This may sound inconvenient but not with touch id. Itwould take a second and it is the only real way for phone security to work, and before anyone says it sure the NSA could be tracking you but whatever if theyre days are that dull I pitty them.
For security on new iPhones to work then a password can't be optional. It must be required whenever trying to turn on or off anything that interferes with data or network signal, this includes wanting to remove the sim or turn offthe phone. Even when offthe phone should still put out a location signal like a low powered beacon to allow tracking.
This may sound inconvenient but not with touch id. Itwould take a second and it is the only real way for phone security to work, and before anyone says it sure the NSA could be tracking you but whatever if theyre days are that dull I pitty them.