Technology
Goodbye to iPhone thieves, know the trick to always protect your phone
Although incredibly difficult, if a thief gets into your iPhone, they could lock you out of your account for good. Here’s how to stop that from happening.
Apple is known for its security, but even the best security is not impenetrable. Thieves have found a way to get access to iPhones and with it everything in owners Apple ID accounts while locking them out at the same time according to the Wall Street Journal.
It’s difficult to pull off, but if they do, it can be next to impossible to recover your data, messages, photos and more. Not to mention, they could get their hands in the real cookie jar, and steal money from your bank accounts to boot as well.
The key, literally, to the caper is thieves getting your passcode and then swiping your iPhone. Once they can gain access to your iPhone, the crooks can then reset the recovery key, but not before they switch off the device’s ‘Find my iPhone’ so they can’t be located while they pilfer all they can before you have time to react.
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Goodbye to iPhone thieves, know the trick to always protect your phone
The recovery key is a sophisticated 28-digit code designed to protect you from online hackers. Without it, Apple cannot help you reset or regain access to your Apple ID. But in order for the thieves to get into your phone they first need the passcode to unblock the screen. They usually attain this by looking over your shoulder, or get you to open the screen in front of them.
So, the first step is to make sure no one can see your screen when you are typing in your passcode. Better yet, you can use the Face ID or Touch ID feature to unlock your iPhone when in public. If you are adverse to using your biometric data to unlock your iPhone, you can also use an alphanumeric passcode that is longer and harder for any would be bandit to figure out.
Another recommendation is to set up a secondary password in ‘Screen Time’ setting within the iPhone. Any thief that got their hands on your iPhone would be prompted to enter that password before they could make changes to your Apple ID.
At any rate, should you suspect that someone has seen your passcode, you should change it immediately. “If you lose your recovery key and can’t access one of your trusted devices, you’ll be locked out of your account permanently,” warns Apple.