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How to Enable Lockdown Mode for Heightened Security on iPhone and iPad

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With the release of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, Apple introduced Lockdown Mode, offering users an "extreme" level of security. This article explains who Lockdown Mode is for, what it does, and how to enable it.

Lockdown-Mode-Feature.jpg

In iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, Apple brought iPhone and iPad users Lockdown Mode, an optional new security feature that's designed to protect users who may be at risk of highly targeted cyberattacks from private companies developing state-sponsored spyware.

While the feature is aimed at the very small number of users who could be targets of cyberattacks, such as journalists, activists, and government employees, any user can enable it on their device for what Apple calls an "extreme" level of security.

Lockdown Mode Protections

When enabled, Lockdown Mode strictly limits or disables the functionality of features, apps, and websites. Lockdown Mode protections include the following:
  • In the Messages app, most message attachment types other than images are blocked, and some features like link previews are unavailable.
  • Incoming FaceTime calls from people you have not previously called are blocked. Incoming invitations for other Apple services from people you have not previously invited are also blocked.
  • Some complex web technologies and browsing features, including just-in-time (JIT) JavaScript compilation, are disabled unless the user excludes a trusted site from Lockdown Mode. This protection applies to Safari and all other web browsers using WebKit across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
  • Shared albums will be removed from the Photos app, and new shared album invitations will be blocked.
  • When a device is locked, wired connections with other devices/accessories are blocked.
  • Configuration profiles cannot be installed, and the device cannot enroll into mobile device management (MDM), while Lockdown Mode is turned on.
How to Enable Lockdown Mode on iPhone and iPad

Lockdown Mode is turned off by default on iPhone and iPad, but you can enable it by following these steps.
  1. Launch the Settings app.
  2. Scroll down and tap Privacy & Security.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the menu and under "Security," tap Lockdown Mode.
  4. Read the on-screen information, then tap Turn On Lockdown Mode.
  5. Review the list of protections. If you're still happy to go ahead, tap Turn On Lockdown Mode.
turn-on-lockdown-mode.jpg


Apple has added a new category to its Security Bounty program to reward researchers who find Lockdown Mode bypasses and help improve its protections, so expect new protections to be added over time.

Article Link: How to Enable Lockdown Mode for Heightened Security on iPhone and iPad
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/enable-lockdown-mode-ios/
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bigboy29 said:
I had this enabled for about 2 weeks. The only thing that was really annoying was inability to view media files sent to me via SMS. Otherwise, I can't say I missed anything else.
Click to expand...
Sounds like it wasn't very disruptive, but it also sounds like you eventually disabled it? was that because of the SMS media file issue you mentioned? or some other reason?
 
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Htsi said:
Still VPN data leaks. What’s the point
Click to expand...
And the Lockdown Mode doesn’t julienne my fries, either… as a recognition of ANOTHER thing that Lockdown Mode doesn’t do. :) Oh, it doesn’t remove stubborn stains or mildew, either, in case anyone was wondering.

How Apple could release a feature that only does a specific thing and NOT do an entire world’s amount of unrelated things is beyond me. /s
 
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Unregistered 4U said:
And the Lockdown Mode doesn’t julienne my fries, either… as a recognition of ANOTHER thing that Lockdown Mode doesn’t do. :) Oh, it doesn’t remove stubborn stains or mildew, either, in case anyone was wondering.

How Apple could release a feature that only does a specific thing and NOT do an entire world’s amount of unrelated things is beyond me. /s
Click to expand...
It’s hard to get the /s when usually people who will turn this function need it to protect themselves but data leaks does not help. Ok, also some paranoids people will do it as well… Really I do not understand why nobody big in media is not putting it under a view. This is more crucial than antenna gate.

I don’t believe Apple Pay’s everyone to keep quiet as they do with other big problems and 0 days.
 
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addamas said:
It’s hard to get the /s when usually people who will turn this function need it to protect themselves but data leaks does not help. Ok, also some paranoids people will do it as well… Really I do not understand why nobody big in media is not putting it under a view. This is more crucial than antenna gate.

I don’t believe Apple Pay’s everyone to keep quiet as they do with other big problems and 0 days.
Click to expand...
Antennagate(tm) affected basically everybody who used a naked iPhone. The number of VPN users, by comparison, is very small. Media attention is rarely given to technical subjects because the majority of viewers won't understand it. I don't know anybody who knows what a VPN is, let alone what it means that it's leaking an IP address. But it's pretty easy to understand 'hold phone, lose signal'.
 
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addamas said:
It’s hard to get the /s when usually people who will turn this function need it to protect themselves but data leaks does not help. Ok, also some paranoids people will do it as well… Really I do not understand why nobody big in media is not putting it under a view. This is more crucial than antenna gate.

I don’t believe Apple Pay’s everyone to keep quiet as they do with other big problems and 0 days.
Click to expand...
People who are turning on Lockdown Mode in order to do a thing that Lockdown Mode doesn’t do likely doesn’t understand what it is they WANT to do. They should probably read up on what Lockdown Mode is created for before saying that “It won’t unlock my car” or “It doesn’t keep me dry on rainy days” or “It doesn’t block 100% of all network traffic from reaching my phone”.

I guess the media could say, “Here’s a list of things that Lockdown Mode on the iPhone does NOT do.” That’d be helpful. But, even after the media says “Lockdown Mode is NOT a VPN” there will still be folks outraged saying, “Yeah, but what the media isn’t telling you is… IT’S NOT A VPN!!”
 
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Unregistered 4U said:
And the Lockdown Mode doesn’t julienne my fries, either… as a recognition of ANOTHER thing that Lockdown Mode doesn’t do. :) Oh, it doesn’t remove stubborn stains or mildew, either, in case anyone was wondering.

How Apple could release a feature that only does a specific thing and NOT do an entire world’s amount of unrelated things is beyond me. /s
Click to expand...
tim-cook-sees.jpg
 
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Unregistered 4U said:
And the Lockdown Mode doesn’t julienne my fries, either… as a recognition of ANOTHER thing that Lockdown Mode doesn’t do. :) Oh, it doesn’t remove stubborn stains or mildew, either, in case anyone was wondering.

How Apple could release a feature that only does a specific thing and NOT do an entire world’s amount of unrelated things is beyond me. /s
Click to expand...

Be VPN
Not do the one thing VPNs are supposed to do
Realize you’re a bad VPN solution
Get told you’re entitled and want the world
 
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