Protecting your iPhone and iPad from Theft

Step 1 – Protecting Your Device First, a few relevant iPhone/iPad security points: Always use the passcode lock: Settings > General > Passcode Lock. This is the most basic of security features, and probably the one I also recommend the most. Most people tend to store emails, contacts, SMS, calendars, and all kinds of other info on their smartphones. In the event your phone is lost or stolen, you’re going to want to ensure that a random stranger won’t be able to get access to your personal information. I also recommend setting it to Auto-Lock after 1 minute. Update your iOS devices: Keep your iPhone or iPad up to date by reguarly applying updated in iTunes. This will ensure you have the latest security patches, and fix bugs such as the one in iOS 4.1 that allowed a thief to bypass the iOS passcode lock and make calls, read emails, etc. Set a SIM PIN: Settings > Phone > SIM PIN > On. This is probably one of the most underused security features (which exists on any phone), and prevents someone from removing your SIM card, placing it in another phone, and making unlimited calls. [Optional] Erase Data after 10 failed passcode attempts: Settings > General > Passcode Lock. This feature allows you to make sure that someone won’t be able to brute force their way into your device. After ten attempts, the iPhone/iPad will erase itself. This one is up to you, as it does create two potential problems. Firstly, it could allow someone with enough time to erase your device (annoying); and secondly if the device gets erased, you won’t be able to track it. I still recommend using this. [Advanced] Use the iPhone Configuration Utility: Apple provides a free iPhone Configuration Utility (Mac/Windows) that allows you to set higher security requirements. These include a longer passcode, less attempts (5) before an automatic wipe, and other security settings. This tool is normally used by Enterprise users to configure company phones, but advanced users may be interested in looking at the options provided. Next, find your device’s Serial Number and IMEI Number (phones only), and write them down somewhere (not on the device), as you may need these at a later date. The IMEI is a unique number used by GSM networks to identify valid phones, and can be used to block lost or stolen devices (this is explained further down).  On iOS you can find these in Settings > General > About. On any mobile phone you can get the IMEI by entering *#06# on the phone’s keypad.

Step 2 – Setting up Tracking When Apple released iOS 4.2, they announced that they were making their Find My iPhone service free to everyone. The service, previously only available to paying MobileMe customers, allows you to geolocate your device, send it messages, or wipe it remotely. To set up Find My iPhone on your device, follow these instructions: On the device, tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add account. Then, tap MobileMe and sign in with your Apple ID (the account you use for iTunes or App Store purchases), or create a new Apple ID for free. Then, follow the onscreen instructions to complete signing up for a free MobileMe account and activating Find My iPhone. (Apple) For Find My iPhone to function properly, you will need to have Location Services turned On (Settings > General > Location Services). Once you have it set up, remember to log in and test it to make sure it’s working! You should see your device on a map: On a privacy side-note: If you enable Find My iPhone on your device, remember that anyone who can gain access to your MobileMe account will be able to see where you are. If you ever want to disable Find My iPhone, you can do this in: Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > MobileMe Account > Find My iPhone > Off. If your device is stolen when this is off, you won’t be able to track it.

Step 3 – Recovering Your Device So, you’ve gone and lost your iPhone, or had your iPad stolen. Well done! Now we can have fun trying to get it back. First of all… if it’s your phone, have you tried calling it? If it’s a shiny iPhone 4, chances are this will happen, unless Jesus himself found your phone. Stay calm, I’m here to help! If you’ve followed the steps above, you should be able to geolocate your device. For this to work you will need to hope that your iPhone or iPad has an of internet connection (3G or Wifi). As you hopefully tested in Step 2 above, log in to MobileMe to see where your phone is. If you’re still in a bar and your device has just gone missing, or you want to be able to stalk the thief, you can install the free Find My iPhone app onto another (friend’s?) iOS device. At this point you can try to track down and confront the thief yourself (not recommended unless you have backup) – or – file a police report and get them to go pick it up for you. You can also send messages to the phone to try and convince them to return it. And you will be able to track it easily. If you can’t track your iPhone on the first try, keep trying, as sometimes it may be out of signal range or out of power. A thief will probably need to plug the phone in prior to restoring it, so if you’re paying attention you may be able to get his home location just before your phone is erased! Check out these stories of a guy who recovered his phone, and another who recovered his car, using Find My iPhone. See the short video below:-


Step 4 – Recovery Failed: What Now? So now your iPhone’s been missing for a while, and you haven’t been able to track it down. The thief may have turned the phone off, erased it or removed the SIM card. Or the thief is in another country, and you’re getting no help from the authorities (and don’t want to get it yourself). At this point tracking is unfortunately no longer an option, and many people give up. Do not despair, for there is yet hope! If, for some reason, you didn’t set a SIM PIN, the first thing you’ll want to do is inform your phone provider/carrier to disable your SIM and potentially save you many dollars of calls. Next, file a police report and give them your device’s serial number and IMEI (phone only). Thieves occasionally get nabbed with a whole bunch of stolen stuff, this way they’ll be able to return your device to you. You may want to consider wiping your device to ensure that your personal data does not fall into the wrong hands. You can remotely wipe your device from within Find My iPhone, but note that once your device is wiped, you will no longer be able to track it. The final step, to be taken when you’re pretty sure your phone will never return, is to disable it so that it will be useless to anyone else. You can give your carrier your phone’s IMEI, and they can blacklist it, essentially rendering the phone useless (nice paperweight though). At that point if you do manage to get your phone back, however, you won’t be able to use it as it’s not possible to remove a device from the IMEI blacklist (to my knowledge). Note that not all carriers in all countries are willing to add devices to the blacklist. Finally… I hope that this article will help at least one person to successfully recover a lost or stolen device.
If you know anyone who may not be familiar the ways they can protect themselves, I encourage you to share this with them. If you have any questions please feel free to post a comment below, or start a thread in the forums!
That's it for the Todays Blog
But Rest in Next.