iPhone can be shut down with screen locked and passcode set

Dionysis73 wrote:

Okay I thought it was like a 4 digit pin? I remember doing this once. It seems the only flaw from the link I read is that you cannot remotely turn on find my iPhone. I always have mine on but I imagine a lot of people don't.

Well, a remote connection must already exist in order to execute any remote commands. Since the actual connection with the server is established via the find my iPhone service, you cannot very well enable a service remotely when you need that very service in effect to even allow any remote command communication with the device.

Without some a priori communication portal already established, there is no way to execute any remote command on any device of any kind. So the only way to allow find my iphone to be initiated remotely would be to build every iOS device with a default, always on, portal of some kind active from the moment you first use the device. I imagine a lot of people would not want that at all - I surely know I would not want such a built-in command portal in the firmware of the device.

Find my iPhone is under the control of the owner, which means they also have to accept some responsibility to actually use the security features available to them. Otherwise, just let big brother control the device fully from the outset, and give up any pretense of actually controlling your own device.

Just tried it. I had a choice between lost mode or erase phone. The Lost mode did activate the message and the existing lock code the phone had on. Didn't come across the apple id you're talking about. I suppose you have to erase phone to activate apple id lock.

Dionysis73 wrote:

We're not talking about pros were assuming amateurs.

Amateurs wouldn't know how to turn it off if they are truly amateurs. Probably half the people who own iPhones don't know how to turn it off.

richardsoper wrote:

You are correct about people not setting it up. That is the biggest hole in the security. But during the set up assistant(even after an update) everyone is asked to set it up and I think its a two tap process to say no so they really have to mean it lol.

Activation lock was a step in the right direction for mobile security thats for sure.

Activation lock will work even if you don't have a screen passcode lock, as long as you enable Find my iPhone. To disable Activation Lock you need the iCloud Apple ID and password.

Dionysis73 wrote:

I cloud already is a remote connection

Yes, iCloud is a remote connection to the iCloud server and services. But if you set up an iCloud account and do NOT enable find my iPhone, then Apple's servers cannot execute any remote commands (wipe, etc) on the device. It is the activation of find my iPhone that enables the remote portal to the iCloud servers with appropriate permissions in iOS to actually execute remote commands.

Without find my iPhone enabled, no command sent from Apple's servers will be able to execute on the remote device.

NO. Activation Lock works all the time. It works every day as you use the phone. You need to turn it off if YOU want to erase the phone, turn off Find my iPhone, Restore the iPhone using iTunes. And to turn it off you need to enter your iCloud ID and password. If someone other than you tries to reset the phone or remove it from your account it becomes permanently bricked. This has nothing to do with remote erase or lost mode.

Ok, so as long as you've turned find my iPhone and you're using ios7 , you theoretically don't have to do a thing . The phone would be bricked if they try to reactivate. Of course we're all concerned of our personal data so might as well do an erase. Our 4 digit pins are theoretically crackle. Or send them a message through lost mode .

So its advisable to not put on the ten times wrong code erase phone feature, so a message can be sent through lost phone mode. I've given my old phones to my kids so I don't want any other kid stealing them. I have them without a lock code so if another kid steals them and connects them to their homes wife they'll be caught by me. I don't have a sim in them so they are effectively an ipod.

Dionysis73 wrote:

So its advisable to not put on the ten times wrong code erase phone feature, so a message can be sent through lost phone mode. I've given my old phones to my kids so I don't want any other kid stealing them. I have them without a lock code so if another kid steals them and connects them to their homes wife they'll be caught by me. I don't have a sim in them so they are effectively an ipod.

Matter of preference I guess, based on how you use your device and what is on it. I do have the wipe after failed passcode attempts enabled. If anyone has my device, I am far more concerned about safeguarding the contents than in recovering the physical hardware (since that is a pretty rare event at best). I also use a complex passcode.

Unless it's a really stupid 4 digit PIN like "1234" it is not crackable. After 6 attempts it makes you wait a minute before trying again. After 10 it's 5 minutes. From there it quickly escalates. I've seen posts that say after a number of tries the wait is longer than the expected life of the universe.

That would be stupid. The whole idea is that we're trying to trace our phone to its whereabouts. Why the **** would i care about some calls? If anything I could retrieve those numbers of my next statement and call them myself.

Um, you wouldn't have to wait until your statement. If the phone is still using the same SIM and the same phone number, then just call the phone. That's not a reliable way to track the device. Find My iPhone + iOS 7 is a reliable way to track it.

And why would you care about some calls? Because failing to report the device stolen or lost to your wireless carrier means you have a greatly reduced chance of fighting any charges. Just like if you don't report your credit card stolen. If you wait too long, and then your wireless carrier bills you for a bunch of calls, then you're going to have a hard time convincing them you shouldn't be charged.

Check your terms of service with your carrier. See if there's a provision that requires you to notify them if the device is lost or stolen. There probably is.

Dionysis73 wrote:

That would be stupid. The whole idea is that we're trying to trace our phone to its whereabouts. Why the **** would i care about some calls?

Because one of the reasons that cell phones are stolen is to use them for free (to the thief) international calls to China, India, etc at $2.49/minute. You then have to prove that you didn't make those calls. Really hard if you didn't report the phone as stolen.

Forget about tracing the phone's whereabouts. You are going to go and confront the thief, his gang or his fence and get beaten up or shot? Face it, if your iphone is stolen, it's gone for good. It's probably on its way to China. Find my iPhone is useful for finding LOST phones, not stolen phones.

Well, it's useful for finding dumb thieves, or those that pick up a 'lost' iPhone and decide to keep it, being unaware of the FMiP function. I recovered my girlfriend's iPhone this way, from someone that was 'going to turn it in to the police'... even though they walked past three police officers at the mall. I was able to use the 'Play Sound' feature to make it make a very audible sound from her purse, even though she'd turned the ringer off, and declined the phone calls I made.

After that, it was a simple matter of demanding the phone back, or have the police officer that was lookign over at use to walk over.

If you look around in forums you will find that many people have traced their phones and have recovered them with or without the help of police. I'm on a $900 dollar cap so I would love if they spent hours ringing overseas as I can in the meantime trace them and get my phone back.