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Apple and Other Smartphone Makers Back Global Anti-Theft Measures
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Mousse
macrumors 601
Custom ROM, bro. No matter what security they implement, flashing a custom ROM will make any software based security moot. The handset makers will have to have something inaccessible (by users and hackers) like the PROM to make it work.
I, for one, won't have a problem with someone trying to steal my phone, since it's not a desirable phone.😛 5 years ago, my Galaxy S would have been hot stuff, but now people snigger when I pull it out. Well it's an upgrade from my StarTAC that I used for 10+ years.
Southern Dad
macrumors 68000
What some don't seem to understand is that even if the thief steals your iPhone mid-call while it is unlocked for use or forces you to enter the PIN, this does not remove the activation lock that is in iOS 7. So far, no one has defeated this. Basically the iPhone or iPad is locked to your iTunes account. It cannot be activated by anyone else.
How many thieves are going to wait while you log into your iTunes account and delete the device that they are stealing?
How many thieves are going to wait while you log into your iTunes account and delete the device that they are stealing?
ActionableMango
macrumors G3
Do you actually have TouchID? I do, and it's a massive convenience.
The only problem is that when I use my iPad, I instinctively try to unlock it by holding my finger on the home button for a second or two after pressing it. Then I realize it doesn't have TouchID, so I have to enter my passcode like some kind of barbarian. 🙂
Hate Activation Lock
I absolutely hate Activation lock.
The thing is, its a really great idea and I like that no one can use any of my iDevices if they get stolen, as all my iDevices have passcodes - thus becoming useless to the thief.
HOWEVER - Apple is making it IMPOSSIBLE for you to get in touch with the person who actually owns the iPhone. Thousands of iPhones are on eBay that can't be returned to their owner as the e-mail address is blanked out! If you find a wiped phone because someone lost it, there is nothing you can do to get it back to them. Their sim won't work (blocked) and you can't even put your own sim in to call the previous owner. The entire activation lock is to REDUCE the amount of iPhone on the market. What it has done is reduce the cost to fix iPhones as they are now used as spare parts. If the device is at the "activation lock" screen, you can't find it on iCloud and can't send an automated message to it every time it is turned on with your email address or alternative phone number where the person can at least return the phone to for a "reward'.
I absolutely hate Activation lock.
The thing is, its a really great idea and I like that no one can use any of my iDevices if they get stolen, as all my iDevices have passcodes - thus becoming useless to the thief.
HOWEVER - Apple is making it IMPOSSIBLE for you to get in touch with the person who actually owns the iPhone. Thousands of iPhones are on eBay that can't be returned to their owner as the e-mail address is blanked out! If you find a wiped phone because someone lost it, there is nothing you can do to get it back to them. Their sim won't work (blocked) and you can't even put your own sim in to call the previous owner. The entire activation lock is to REDUCE the amount of iPhone on the market. What it has done is reduce the cost to fix iPhones as they are now used as spare parts. If the device is at the "activation lock" screen, you can't find it on iCloud and can't send an automated message to it every time it is turned on with your email address or alternative phone number where the person can at least return the phone to for a "reward'.
Does not prevent theft
Its disturbing that Law officials - you know the people who make and enforce laws and punishment - do not realize that these anti-theft features DO NOT deter theft, they only reduce the value of stolen goods.
They are giving thieves way to much credit, thieves are not as smart as they think they are (yes some are - but not the ones mugging people for phones), they may not even know that these anti-theft features exist and wont know which phones have it and which dont and which have it enabled and which can still be hacked. Also when the opportunity to steal a phone arises they dont necessarily have the time to think about whether or not it has any value. A thief will steal your phone, get away, and then an only then will they determine if they can get any money for it, and if they find out the phone is disabled, they will likely just toss it in the trash - and they will just assume they were unlucky and will steal the exact same phone again.
If anything I see these required anti-theft measures as causing iPhone theft to become much more violent... If the thieves do get smart enough, they will start killing or incapacitating victims for long enough to sell the phone before they can disable the phone. Or hunting down the victim after the fact as a vendetta for wiping the phone they stole and making it unsellable - criminals are ****ed up...
Dont get me wrong, i love the features. But mandating it as a law and saying it will solve all the problems of theft with phones - that is just ignorant...
Its disturbing that Law officials - you know the people who make and enforce laws and punishment - do not realize that these anti-theft features DO NOT deter theft, they only reduce the value of stolen goods.
They are giving thieves way to much credit, thieves are not as smart as they think they are (yes some are - but not the ones mugging people for phones), they may not even know that these anti-theft features exist and wont know which phones have it and which dont and which have it enabled and which can still be hacked. Also when the opportunity to steal a phone arises they dont necessarily have the time to think about whether or not it has any value. A thief will steal your phone, get away, and then an only then will they determine if they can get any money for it, and if they find out the phone is disabled, they will likely just toss it in the trash - and they will just assume they were unlucky and will steal the exact same phone again.
If anything I see these required anti-theft measures as causing iPhone theft to become much more violent... If the thieves do get smart enough, they will start killing or incapacitating victims for long enough to sell the phone before they can disable the phone. Or hunting down the victim after the fact as a vendetta for wiping the phone they stole and making it unsellable - criminals are ****ed up...
Dont get me wrong, i love the features. But mandating it as a law and saying it will solve all the problems of theft with phones - that is just ignorant...
Dave.UK
macrumors 65816
This is a very good point also... these anti-theft measure actually end up hurting the victim even more - making recovery of a stolen phone impossible - yet another reason a thief could care less about whether or not a phone they steal will be sellable - again thieves will steal anything - and then decide if it was worth it.
Didnt they say in the 90s to not to keep cash in your wallet to protect yourself from being mugged? did that work? no.. they will mug you, check your wallet, find no cash, and kick you and extra time for wasting their time...
Why can't the carriers just blacklist the phone via serial #? Seems to be a much simpler solution.
phoenixsan
macrumors 65816
At least.....
the phone makers are agreeing to some needed and useful. Not only as a deterrent to violent crimes and petty theft, but as medium to slow identity theft and misuse of personal data....
I really applaud and praise this news. Hope the implementations works as expected and effectively one user hurt by robbery can really KILL the phone and render it unusable....
🙂
the phone makers are agreeing to some needed and useful. Not only as a deterrent to violent crimes and petty theft, but as medium to slow identity theft and misuse of personal data....
I really applaud and praise this news. Hope the implementations works as expected and effectively one user hurt by robbery can really KILL the phone and render it unusable....
🙂
ActionableMango
macrumors G3
Not impossible. Not even difficult.
Slip a business card between the phone and case. Mention a reward if found, no questions asked.
Don't have a case? No problem. I used an image editor to put my email address on my lock screen's background image. Now if, for example, I leave my iPhone in the test lab at work, anyone can just press the button and see whose phone it is.
Did you enable the screen lock as well? If so, it's simply not being used at all possibly.
Clean install requires a password if FMM is enabled, no?
Hi - believe me apple will have the "home button" built into the screen within a few years
Apple will do what they do, when they do it.
Predicting Apple's design decisions is a fool's errand, as is evidenced all over this forum. If they do remove it they do, if they don't, they don't. I don't care either way, I can't change what they will do any more than anyone else can.
Making absolute, sweeping "predictions" is what egotists do when they can't help themselves BUT say something that they want to be recognised as having "insight" into (which they absolutely don't). I don't care what's "predicted", I care what my eyes see in front of me; actuality.
I'll wait, just as you will, just as every single person on this forum with an opinion, and just as the rest of the entire world OUTSIDE Apple, will. Noone knows, and all the people who think they know - for sure - are merely delusional.
Of course
The tech is there
We just need patience.
Right now we'll have to settle for subpar iterations from apple
binaryskies
macrumors regular
Working at Apple, I actually haven't seen a lot of this. Occasionally, I'll get customers with this issue, but not as much as I expected..hopefully it stays this way. I hate giving the news of "sorry, but you bought a really expensive paper weight.".
A good excuse for the not user accessible battery
The battery is not accessible by the user, they could use it a power source... also, add a small battery only for that purpose.. I know, the GPS could drain the battery a lot faster, but only a few location updates per day will not hurt it that much.
Doing it this way, they could help a lot of people find their device a lot faster, instead of having to wait for days/weeks/months until someone gets to connect it to the internet, if ever.
The battery is not accessible by the user, they could use it a power source... also, add a small battery only for that purpose.. I know, the GPS could drain the battery a lot faster, but only a few location updates per day will not hurt it that much.
Doing it this way, they could help a lot of people find their device a lot faster, instead of having to wait for days/weeks/months until someone gets to connect it to the internet, if ever.
Of course
The tech is there
We just need patience.
Right now we'll have to settle for subpar iterations from apple
If you're never happy with the here and now - what you have got and not what you long for (usually irrelevant raw specs, based upon what Android vendors have put on a spec sheet), then EVERYTHING appears "sub-par". What is actually sub-par, is having the mindset that is to fixate on what isn't (and what possibly won't even EVER be), and become someone who is never satisfied, no matter what. People get carried away, comparing what Apple does to the RAW SPECS of what everyone else has; yes, they may have those specs, but they don't have (and never will have):
# iOS, and the whole Apple experience, not JUST raw specs and cores
# Apple's stellar support
# World class hardware design
# Unbeatable retention of value
Tell my Mum who has an iPhone 3GS that it's "sub-par" - she'd laugh at you and smile.
As long as the EFI lock will not prevent the device from being found... The problem with EFI password is that it never boots, making it imposible to load any kind of application before the password is introduced. Adding activation lock to the BIOS, and enabling it before the EFI password would be an amazing innovation.