Stolen iPhone. Can criminals bypass the password on a stolen iPhone and get to my personal data?
It is a tragedy for the owner not only because this smartphone is quite expensive, but also for another reason: according to surveys, 70% of owners of Apple gadgets store important information on their mobile devices, both personal and necessary for work and business. If an executive loses his iPhone (along with his notes, emails, and spreadsheets), it can stall his organization for days.
Fortunately, there is a chance to find the gadget. People who have lost their iPhone or iPad should put aside self-flagellation and self-pity “for later” and first take the measures described in this article. Even if these measures fail to locate your lost iPhone, it will be possible to delete the data stored in the device's memory to prevent it from falling into the hands of ordinary people or, much worse, business competitors.
There are several steps to take straightaway after discovering the loss of the iPhone. If the smartphone was found by a respectable person, there is a high probability that these simple measures will yield results:
Call your number. Use the phone of a friend or work colleague for this. If you left the device on the street, the call will attract the attention of a passerby, who will be able to give you the find for a modest reward. If you don’t have a phone at hand from which you can make a call, use the “almighty” Internet - for example, from the website www.iCantFindMyPhone.com you can call any number. If the call does not yield results, proceed to further actions.
Temporarily block your SIM card. It's not even necessary for this personally When you come to a mobile operator’s service office, just call the hotline number and give your passport details. This measure will help protect you from a significant minus on your account.
Change passwords via computer. The iPhone stores in its memory all the passwords you specified. If, say, you regularly transfer money via iPhone in your Sberbank-Online Personal Account, then the loss of your device may well put your well-being at risk. If an attacker gains access to your social network page, your reputation will be threatened.
Take preventive measures to avoid being in a situation where all your passwords end up in the hands of an attacker. Use a password manager with one master code, which a person who accidentally finds the gadget will definitely not be able to recognize. Password managers for iPhone (and not only) are discussed.
Think about where you've been recently and where you might have lost your device.. Let's say, if you used a taxi service, you can dial an operator who will connect you personally with your driver. You can ask the driver if he found the iPhone.
Is it possible to find an iPhone by IMEI?
Finding out the IMEI of an Apple device is easy: just dial *#06#, and the number will appear on the screen.
What can't you do if Find My iPhone is turned on?
Having reported the loss of an iPhone to the police, the user will probably be faced with a requirement to turn off “ Lost Mode"so that law enforcement agencies can track the location of the device by IMEI.
If you have a security password set on your smartphone, you can disable “Lost Mode” at the request of the police - the password is quite reliable protection.
Only an Apple pro will be able to reset it - the likelihood that the finder is an advanced user is very small.
If the police ask you to erase your iPhone and remove yourself from your iCloud account, under no circumstances should you comply with their request. The security password will be reset after erasing, which means that the person who discovered the iPhone will will be able to fully use the device. The owner can only hope for the efficiency of the police, who, alas, do not prioritize cases of missing phones.
Applications to help you find your iPhone
Not only the built-in functions of the device, but also third-party applications available in the AppStore for free or for a reasonable fee can help you find a gadget. Such programs include:
Contact If Found
The application makes it possible to create a desktop screensaver with the owner’s contact information. This program is free, but can only be installed on smartphones with iOS version 8 and higher.
iHound.
Program " iHound"-"personal detective" of the iPhone owner. As soon as the lost gadget is connected to the PC, a letter will be sent to the owner’s mailbox indicating the exact address where the device is located. Thus, the owner can prevent the software of his smartphone from being changed by “computer craftsmen.” Also " iHound» periodically records the location of the gadget for preventive purposes - this means that the owner will be able to find out not only Where now the device remains, but also How it got there (for this you will have to use Facebook or Twitter).
Reward If Found
The program will allow you to create a colorful screensaver with the owner’s contact information. As soon as the person who found the iPhone turns on the device, he will see something like this:
The program is paid, but its cost is low - only 75 rubles.
iLocalis
iLocalis is an application only available for jailbroken iPhones (in Cydia). Its functionality is quite wide: for example, using “ iLocalis“You can find out the new number if you have changed the SIM card in your smartphone.
Conclusion
Increasing the security of device owners is a trend that is gaining momentum. It is known that Apple engineers are developing a project for a “zombie mode” of the iPhone - a gadget in this state will be able to transmit location information to the owner even when turned off. However, for now, users of Apple gadgets have to be content with the “ Find iPhone”, which, alas, does not always bring results.
Your brand new iPhone 6 is a real bait for a pickpocket. But in addition to the purely physical loss of an expensive device, the user loses a lot of necessary and, often, private information. Therefore, be sure to take preventive measures before this happens. And if suddenly your iPhone is stolen, you will probably know what to do in such a case. And thanks to modern developments by Apple, which is trying to do everything possible for reliable protection, you can quickly block your smartphone, blocking access to personal data, and make it much more difficult for the thief to sell it further.
What to do to ensure safety?
First of all, activate the Touch ID function, which involves scanning the owner’s fingerprints at each entrance. Doing this quickly and not difficult, but it will help protect against unauthorized access if the phone is stolen.
Then be sure to initiate the “Find iPhone” function, and it is advisable to do this immediately after purchase. Go to the “Settings” menu item, find the “iCloud” tab. To sign in to the cloud, create or enter an existing Apple ID and password. If you don’t have it, you can get it completely free by selecting the appropriate offer, it will be displayed simultaneously with the request. But it’s better to create a strong, combined alphanumeric password yourself, and most importantly, don’t forget it!
Next, in the iCloud menu, find the green icon in the form of a radar, with the inscription - Find iPhone, and switch it to the “on” position. At this moment, the “Activation Lock” background mode is activated on the smartphone by default. Then, if stolen, the iPhone will not give scammers the opportunity to do anything with it in the future, except sell it for spare parts. Without your password and Apple ID, they will not be able to completely erase existing data, disable Find My iPhone, or use it for its intended purpose when trying to reactivate it. Currently, it is almost impossible to completely remove the existing blocking; certain restrictions on the iPhone will still remain. That is, the whole point of theft is lost. And perhaps it will be returned to you for a reward, under the guise of being “found” and not stolen.
It is also very important to block the ability to disable the geolocation service so that the thief cannot deactivate it. But again, this needs to be done before the iPhone is stolen. To do this, in “Settings” go to “General”, select “Restrictions” and enable them by entering a four-digit password different from the unlock password. Then, having found the “Location Services” tab at the very bottom, block its changes. After this, the thief will not be able to turn off the iPhone or disable geolocation. It wouldn’t hurt to also prohibit changes in the “Accounts” tab, thereby eliminating the possibility of hacking the owner’s iCloud account.
Procedure for committing theft
If attackers do steal your smartphone, as quickly as possible, from any computer, go to the link: http://icloud.com/find. Enter your Apple ID with a password for identification, and launch “Find iPhone” and select your iPhone. To do this, click on the “All devices” tab. Next, in the same menu, you must immediately enable “Lost Mode”, thanks to which the lock will be made using a four-digit password code. Then you can send a notification to your iPhone that it has been lost/stolen and indicate your contact phone number. This message will appear on the screen even if the device is locked. And you can call back from your iPhone, but only to the number that is listed in this message.
Then try to determine the location of your smartphone. If the green circle glows next to the name, this means that the phone is online and can be tracked, but if the gray circle is not, it will immediately send its coordinates when connected. You can click on “Notify me about a find” and receive an email notification about the device’s connection to the network. If an iPhone, according to the map, is detected nearby, you can force it to play a long (about 2 minutes) sound signal at maximum volume to help you find it.
It also makes sense to try to find an iPhone that was stolen using the IMEI code. It can be found on the box, or in advance, before it is stolen, dial the combination *#06# and write down the resulting fifteen-digit code. But to do this, you must personally submit a written statement of theft to the police department, and they will issue an order to the mobile operator to track the code. This way you can get information about the location of the device if it appears on the network, or about an attempt to replace the SIM card. But the chances are slim, you understand.
Buyers of stolen iPhones and iPads in Russia have found a new way to unlock Apple gadgets. They call former device owners on behalf of Apple: the attackers introduce themselves as company technical support employees and say that the device was detected by the Find My iPhone service. Next, they offer to perform a series of actions that, they claim, will help return the device.
A journalist told a story about how his iPhone 5s was stolen. “I was able to remotely lock it fairly quickly using Apple's built-in Find My iPhone feature,” he says.
It works like this: you write a message that will be displayed on the phone screen, you can track its movement, and erase your data. In this case, all functions of the device except these become inactive. A couple of days later, unknown people contacted Ivan and offered to pay them a decent amount for the return of his mobile phone. When I asked what you would do with the blocked device if I refused, they said that they would take it apart into parts.
The journalist at that time imagined only two outcomes if he did agree: the first was a personal meeting, which would be too risky for them, and the second was the transfer of the amount to them and the selection of the device somewhere where it would most likely be it didn't turn out. Therefore, he offered to pay them when they met, after which they stopped communicating. Having written a statement to the police, the journalist forgot about this unpleasant incident.
However, after such a long time, a certain Maxim Mikhailets called the number indicated to them. He introduced himself as an Apple support employee and said that his iPhone, which was in lost mode, was found at the Mitinsky radio market, and left his contact number. The journalist contacted Apple for comment.
"This is impossible. Firstly, we do not have the right to do this, and secondly, it cannot be our employee, no matter how friendly he may seem to you, do not provide any data. If you connect it to a power source and try to turn it on, you will see messages that you left several years ago. That's how he found your phone number. There is no way to disable this mode. The main thing is don’t click on any links or provide your email,” says Apple technical support employee Christina.
If you succumb to the scammers’ persuasion and provide them with your Apple ID account information, your iPhone can be unlocked and, therefore, sold. This is probably what the attacker needed. But there is a second option - trying to sell the device to the former owner.
“Unfortunately, many of our citizens follow the lead of swindlers and buy at half price. But in fact, you need to go to the meeting with law enforcement officers and convince them to initiate a criminal case. In reality it is not as easy as I say, but according to the law it should be. They will steal from 100 people, God willing, if 5-10 report it to the police. This is not only in our country, it is the same in other countries. Trade in stolen goods - there is an article for this. Unfortunately, it is rarely used,” says Andrey Knyazev, chairman of the Knyazev and Partners Bar Association.
If the attackers fail in any of the options to sell the stolen phone, it will be used for spare parts. This is the smallest income. You can only remove small modules: the motherboard, and with it, the fingerprint sensor on another device will not work. Apple says that no matter how attentive you are to your personal belongings, you should not forget about protecting your accounts. After all, stolen Apple ID authorization data allows you to remotely lock your phone, tablet, computer, and copy your photos and notes. Use complex passwords and two-factor authentication, they advise.
If you decide to buy an iPhone on the secondary market and are not sure whether it is stolen or not, there are several ways to check whether the device is locked and whether a careless seller wants to deceive you.
Activation Lock is an excellent feature that protects information on your smartphone from prying eyes in case of theft. And although the thief will not be able to activate the device, he may well try to sell it to a person who does not fully understand the new functions introduced by Apple.
So, if you want to buy an iPhone on the secondary market, you should pay attention to:
Lock screen
If the smartphone is stolen, the owner will be able to remotely leave a message on the display. Look at the lock screen: if there is a message like this, it means the device is stolen. If your smartphone is password protected, tell the seller to enter the password and unlock the device.
Reset
If the owner of the iPhone is legitimate and honest, he will not be able to refuse your request. To do this, you need to go through the following path: Settings – General – Reset – Erase settings and content. To confirm this action, you will need to enter your Apple ID password. Naturally, if your new acquaintance refuses to do this, you can safely turn around and leave.
Set up your smartphone
If the seller has reset all settings, you will need to do it from scratch. Enter country, language, etc. After this, you need to enter any Apple ID and password. If everything worked out for you at this stage, then the phone is “clean”.
If at this step the device asks you to enter the Apple ID and password of the previous owner, you need to slow down with the purchase. Contact the seller: if the phone is not stolen, he will easily enter this data. If he refuses or enters incorrectly, the phone is stolen.
It happens that your brand new iPhone becomes the prey of a pickpocket or you simply lose it. Of course, it’s a shame to lose your favorite gadget, but along with it you also lose a lot of important information, which is often too personal. So, in order to be on the safe side and protect your data in advance, you need to use standard protection options. And if your iPhone does disappear, then you will know what to do if the iPhone is stolen or lost. Thanks to Apple's efforts to maintain data security, you can block your smartphone in a timely manner, make it difficult for a thief to sell your gadget, and make it easier for the police to find you.
First steps to ensure safety
The first step is to activate your TouchID (or passcode, if desired). This step will complicate the task for the thief and block access to the data.
Next, you need to activate the “ ” function; it is best to do this immediately after purchasing the gadget. In your smartphone settings, go to the iCloud tab. Enter the cloud. To do this, you need to enter your AppleID details or register if you don’t already have one. Most importantly, create a strong password of letters and numbers, and, of course, don’t forget it. :)
You can enable the “Find iPhone” function either through iCloud (select the appropriate item in the iCloud menu and swipe to ON) or through the built-in application (Go to the application, enter your AppleID with password and simply tap on “Enable protection”). Now, with numerous unsuccessful attempts, the attacker will simply block the phone and all that remains is to sell it for dismantling. You can also not wait for action from the thief and block the iPhone yourself via iTunes on your computer or from another Apple gadget. Today it is virtually impossible to completely remove the blocking, so if the gadget is stolen or found by a random onlooker, then most likely you will simply be offered to return it for a reward.
Another point is to enable a ban on disabling geolocation display, and this must also be done before the theft:
- Go to “Settings” – “General” – “Restrictions” and enable them using a password.
- Find the “Location Services” tab and lock the ability to change it.
Now the attacker will not be able to perform any manipulations with the smartphone. You can also prohibit changes in a tab such as “Accounts” in order to exclude the possibility of hacking iCloud itself.
What to do if your iPhone is stolen?
If the theft has already been committed, you should quickly gain access to the network from a PC or Apple gadget, follow the link: http://icloud.com/find. Authenticate using iCloud data, find the Find My iPhone function and activate it. To do this, you need to open the “All devices” tab. There you will see the “Lost Mode” function, activate it, the phone will be locked with a 4-digit password. To speed up the search, you can send a notification to the gadget about the loss, indicating contact information. The message will also be displayed when the phone is locked. The finder will be able to call back the number specified in the notification.
Now you need to track the geolocation of your smartphone, and to do this, check the radar icon: if it’s green, the phone is online and being tracked; if it’s gray, it’s not online. But even if the phone is offline, the first time it connects to the network, it will instantly send the location coordinates to the owner. It is possible to notify by email. When your iPhone is nearby, you can force the melody to play to make searching easier.
And of course, you need to file a theft report with the police. They have much more advantages in the search, for example, cooperation with the operator and the like. You must come to the police station and write a written statement indicating the IMEI code and confirm with receipts, a box or a warranty card that you are the owner of the gadget. The IMEI code is usually indicated on the box, but it can also be rewritten, of course, before it is stolen. To do this, dial the combination *06# and press “Call”. A fifteen-digit code will appear - this is the IMEI.
