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Find my iPhone feature....

I

ichabodkky

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 25, 2008
79
0
This is a neat feature for the iPhone 3.0 release. See your phone on a map, and even send it a message or wipe out the data. If they can do all this, why not take it a step further? "Brick my iPhone" If you've lost it, send it a brick command that shuts it down altogether, and the only way to bring it back to life is to plug it back in to the computer that it was synced with.

If I lose my phone and remote wipe it, this just gives somebody a phone. My data is gone yes, and that is good, but the other person has a fully functioning phone that can still cause me headaches. I know the ability to "brick" the phone could be dangerous, especially if someone figures out my MobileMe password.

What do you all think?
 
Wiping, IMO, is already overkill. Why? Too much potential to wreak havok. If an old IT administrator backdoors the companies exchange servers and wipes every apple/win mo device in the network, that would be very bad. Same with MobileMe, although I trust Apples network security, it could still happen.

Besides, the role of bricking a device lies solely with the Carrier. Apple has the ability to deny repairs to or even confiscate legitimately stolen hardware. AT&T Has the ability to deny the IMEI of the device to gain access to their networks.

Neither does so. They'd rather have the business of thungs and finders-keepers instead of the rightful owners of the device ~.~ Better believe if the phones were stolen off a truck or out of a store they would use AT&T's own branded "Find my s*)!" function and recover their assets within days.
 
Hmm, I agree that this feature is great but can be improved upon.

Bricking a phone still won't help you get it back , in fact, you would probably have less of a chance.

Apple could devise a special brick mode that deletes all data and displays a message that requires the phone to be returned to an apple/AT&T store or even the owner. If this happens, the phone could be made useless and not able to be formatted/reset.

Of course, unless the hardware encryption comes into play, hackers could probably break it, but this would be much mote effective than a remote wipe.
 
I know it would lessen the chance of recovery if it were bricked, but my point is, if I can't use my phone, I don't want anybody else using it for a 5 finger discount.
 
Applejuiced said:
... all they have to do is turn off Location Services under General settings.
Click to expand...

An update to the article points out that a passcode stops this... but I do think Apple should expand this feature and make it a bit harder for someone that "finds" a lost iPhone to ever use it again, and hopefully, more likely to find it's home.
 
Eddyisgreat said:
Wiping, IMO, is already overkill. Why? Too much potential to wreak havok. If an old IT administrator backdoors the companies exchange servers and wipes every apple/win mo device in the network, that would be very bad. Same with MobileMe, although I trust Apples network security, it could still happen.
Click to expand...

Remote wiping is already a common practice in the Blackberry world and I haven't heard of any cases of an "admin gone bad" who remote wiped a companies handhelds. Besides, as soon as an admin is terminated, they shouldn't have anyway to get to the BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) that initiates this command.

As far as the remote bricking, I would be for it. Especially if it was constructed in a manner that required it to go back to the provider or Apple to be re-enabled as another poster suggested. In order for the legitimate owner to get the device back, a reasonable charge of say $20-$30 could be made as a means of covering the administrative overhead of looking up & contacting the rightful owner. I know if I lost or had my device stolen I would gladly pay that much to have it back.
 
Applejuiced said:
If you have a password then obviously they wont be able to go in and make any changes.
Click to expand...

I hope my sarcasm detector is not off on this one. You can totally get into a phone with a passcode, if you know what you are doing. :)
 
Applejuiced said:
Meaning guessing the password or you know something we dont?
Click to expand...

Meaning no need to guess the PIN. Any forensic analyst can get into the phone with ease. I haven't figured out how to change someones PIN so that I could use their phone as "normal". However with a certain level of knowledge, the file system can be captured and those in the know could potentially have your bank passwords, GPS history, photos and anything that was recently deleted.
 
they should allow the ability to snap a few pics

you might be able to catch a couple of the thief or surroundings
 
I know the 2.0 software can be circumvented as far as the pin, but I haven't heard about 3.0 and we'll have to see about the 3gs hardware encryption.
 
GTDaveMac said:
I know the 2.0 software can be circumvented as far as the pin, but I haven't heard about 3.0 and we'll have to see about the 3gs hardware encryption.
Click to expand...

3.0 can be jailbroken, therefore passcode can be circumvented.

You are right tho about the 3GS, we'll have to see if it can be jailbroken.
 
It is designed for LOST phones...

If the phone is stolen, it's stolen, there's nothing you can do. All the hacker has to do is turn off the phone, restore the phone, turn off location services (which must be changeable ON THE DEVICE for privacy reasons), etc.

Find my iPhone is designed to give you an opportunity that you've never had before... try to find a lost phone. That is why the ringing and messaging functions are there. Say you left it at a restaurant, friend's house, taxi, you can ring it and send a message to the finder of the phone stating that the phone is lost; call you on your landline and arrange pickup for $20 reward. These are the situations where it is recoverable and Find My iPhone can help. Even finding the phone in your own house or car will be easier now, and it is nice that the ringer works regardless of the silent switch position.

The most important thing about the phone is the data, not the device. You can always replace the device. So, if the phone isn't recoverable at least you know the personal information is safe with remote wipe and that your contacts and calendars were backed up because of MobileMe.

If Apple takes FMiP any further it will run into privacy issues and other problems. It is just fine right where it is, and offers something you've never been able to do before.
 
joeshell383 said:
Find my iPhone is designed to give you an opportunity that you've never had before... try to find a lost phone. ...
If Apple takes FMiP any further it will run into privacy issues and other problems. It is just fine right where it is, and offers something you've never been able to do before.
Click to expand...

Well, I politely disagree. Yes, this is the way Find My iPhone works right now. Yes, even with a PIN there is a way to get data unless the phone is wiped.

HOWEVER, all I am saying is that it is feasible that Apple could add functionality in the future which would help stop lost/stolen iPhones from being used. Would you care to explain why it would be a privacy issue if the owner of a lost iPhone wipes their phone, which puts the phone into a lost/stolen mode that can only be recovered by returning to an Apple/AT&T store or plugged into the users computer?

I can see that this happening, especially with the new hardware encryption. We'll have to see how good the encryption is, but simply because the current iPhone is easily hackable, doesn't mean that can't change.

Also, I admit that there are some problems I see with this. If a thief removes the SIM, then remote wipe is not possible. So, having a PIN would be necessary, with "wipe after 10 attempts" enabled, otherwise brute force could be used. And, to ensure that works, there would have to be no way to get into "recovery mode", etc, or some kind of changes to the process to make THAT secure too.

We'll see...
 
Surely once its reported stolen, the iPhone could let the police know where it is?
 
MattZani said:
Surely once its reported stolen, the iPhone could let the police know where it is?
Click to expand...

You could also use this. It's more reliable (no offense :apple:) and is probably more widely known with local police departments. I've never used it though, so I don't really know what it's like. If you have a silicone case you could put this under that, but then it probably won't be visible :D.
 
Im sure many forensic analysts go around stealing iphones and then hacking into them............
Do you think the average thug/punk that steals an iphone would know how to do anything near that?

bytethese said:
Meaning no need to guess the PIN. Any forensic analyst can get into the phone with ease. I haven't figured out how to change someones PIN so that I could use their phone as "normal". However with a certain level of knowledge, the file system can be captured and those in the know could potentially have your bank passwords, GPS history, photos and anything that was recently deleted.
Click to expand...
 
power out

Problem is that this is good until the power is out on the phone too right?
Once your phone drains, it's can't be found. So for many people, it's only good until the power goes out.

It's not hardware driven, it's based on the software so that's another limitation.

As for theft, as folks say replacing the sim card or merely pulling out the existing one will remove the hopes of tracking it. But then again, petty thieves being what they are will probably keep the juice going.

My friend works for a company that is taking this far beyond. Even if a user puts in a new card they can still track and get the stolen phone back. The company is rolling out their solution nationally and I was hoping they could speak with Apple.

Not as easy as it used to be as they are a very large firm nowadays.

If someone has any ideas on how to work with Apple though, please pm me.

Still looking forward to the find my iphone feature this week. :D
 
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