New Security Feature from Apple to help Protect you from Thieves

For most of us, our phones carry a lot of personal information. If your phone falls into the wrong hands, Apple is putting in an extra layer of security to help keep them from being able to access this trove of data or to simply swipe and wipe your phone for re-sale.

Introducing the Stolen Device Protection feature (currently in Beta preview for some users). When you activate this feature your phone is protected, even if the thief has cracked your passcode.  The new feature is going to use biometric data (Face ID or Touch ID) for any data to be accessed or for changes to be made.

The purpose of this is to protect you from someone stealing your phone, gaining access to the phone’s data and being able to turn off the Find My Phone or adding/removing face or fingerprints of their own. These highly personal requests will now require the extra layer of biometric data over the currently used passcode method. It will also include time delays before the requests will take place for extra caution.

Your Apple phone will learn and store your familiar locations like work and home. And these safeguards will kick in if someone makes the request to add, change or remove your current configurations in a location it doesn’t recognize as a place you regularly frequent.

With cybercriminals working around the clock all new safety precautions are a welcome thought. We must stay vigilant and one step ahead of them! Watch for the opportunity to opt-in to the Stolen Device Protection feature in an upcoming software update.