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Apple Watch Vulnerable to Theft With No Activation Lock
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While Apple Watch is singled out as usual, the fact remains, Apple can implement better security via software if it chooses to.
I strongly suspect better security is among the features Apple intend to implement and will be offered in upcoming software update.
A good thief who knows his trade is able to steal a watch from your wrist without your noticing it. Really. If you have a friend who is a magician, ask him to perform the trick on you, it's pretty impressive...
True, not all thieves are good thieves. But still, the good ones will be able to make an extraordinary quick buck with stolen Apple watches...
Yes, I had a colleague who had his phone stolen like that. Broken jaw and all. Not a pleasant experience and sadly not that uncommon...
Cause the device it's paired to has an ACTIVATION LOCK! Maybe, just maybe this will be an issue to someone who owns APPLE devices and maybe, just maybe might have expected the Apple watch to have the same feature?
This is WHY the Apple watch has been singled out
on an APPLE forum.... I know , shocking!!!
Wow. So if someone manages to steal a watch using this trick that is set up for Apple Pay, they can use it to make Apple Pay purchases without any further authentication? That would basically negate the additional security that Apple Pay is supposed to provide compared to physical credit cards (which is what Apple uses to justify getting a share of the transaction fees from the banks).
This is similar to somebody stealing M&Ms from under my tongue and I blame Hershey's!
Trust me, watches are very easily stolen by people who know what they are doing.
Well, you know this idea went through the Watch's team...
But I think Apple shelved it because it isn't as necessary and focus could be better given to other features that are more useful.
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But how many people would that be, with such a high skill?
Even in a crowd of 1000 people, probably none.
But I think Apple shelved it because it isn't as necessary and focus could be better given to other features that are more useful.
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But how many people would that be, with such a high skill?
Even in a crowd of 1000 people, probably none.
First, this is an Apple forum and the people here are likely getting Apple Watches and so need to know this.
Second, the implication was that there was some safety in regards to the watches not being used without a passcode. Apparently this only keeps the information from the phone from being used, but not the watch from being stolen. That's something people need to know, too. Rolex doesn't, so far as I know, have that issue and has nothing to deter theft as an Apple Watch might (as iPhones now do with fingerprint, etc.).
And, third, most thieves don't even know that Rolex, etc. have a smart watch on the market. They know Apple does—Apple has a ton of ads out to let all would-be thieves know what this watch looks like. They know it's in demand—those on ebay will bid for it. So, you tell me. If a thief sees four men, one with a Rolex, one with Timex, one with Moto 360 and an Apple Watch with Mickey Mouse dancing on the face...which he most likely to recognize and want to steal?
Shouldn't buyers of that watch know they're going to be targeted because the watch has nothing to deter that thief?
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We're not talking about Rolex watches though... The technology is there to deter (if not prevent) thefts like this with the Apple watch so why not use it?
One. There's one biometric sensor in the Apple Watch, and all it does is measure how fast the wearer's heart is beating. Ain't nobody gonna be identified by that. (Maybe the article is referring to future hardware? Or some heretofore-unknown voice recognition feature of Siri?)
That's not the problem the thief has to worry about. They'll sell the watch to someone who has the right phone and wants the watch, just doesn't want to pay $700 for it and the band. If they can sell that $700 watch/band for $300, they've made quick and easy money.
And imagine if they've stolen five of those watches...
I think you mean, "all watches" smart and dumb vulnerable to theft.
Unlike a phone that is not attached to you that can easily be left on a table or put down somewhere necessitating find my phone and activation lock if someone finds it... this device is attached to you. The only time you'd take it off presumably is when your sleeping by the bedside or possibly when your showering if you have a leather band. If your showering at a gym and leave your watch off and not locked up then it deserves to be stolen.
Where is if someone is holding you at gun point and steals it I think you will be more grateful your alive than worrying about the watch which presumably still would never be returned to you even if it had activation lock since people could melt it down for the material assuming it was a nicer one. If its the sport I doubt someone is going to risk everything to get it.
Unlike a phone that is not attached to you that can easily be left on a table or put down somewhere necessitating find my phone and activation lock if someone finds it... this device is attached to you. The only time you'd take it off presumably is when your sleeping by the bedside or possibly when your showering if you have a leather band. If your showering at a gym and leave your watch off and not locked up then it deserves to be stolen.
Where is if someone is holding you at gun point and steals it I think you will be more grateful your alive than worrying about the watch which presumably still would never be returned to you even if it had activation lock since people could melt it down for the material assuming it was a nicer one. If its the sport I doubt someone is going to risk everything to get it.
