Apple should invest in anti-theft security features for iPhone

Apple devices have always been known for their security features, which includes the Find My network that has received major updates in recent years. However, a report from the Wall Street Journal on Friday revealed that these features are not enough to prevent thieves from accessing users’ data. With iOS 17, Apple should invest even more in anti-theft security features for iPhone and iPad.

Smartphones are more valuable than ever to thieves

Smartphone theft is not something new. However, the reasons behind these thefts have changed considerably in recent years. In the past, people stole phones to resell them on the underground market. Even when Apple and other companies introduced things like iCloud Lock, this didn’t stop thieves from stealing phones. After all, they can easily remove and sell parts of the device like the display.

But as technology has advanced, we’ve been putting more of our lives into our phones. Our passwords, our credit cards, our bank accounts, our documents… And as shown by the WSJ report, such benefits can turn into a nightmare when all this data is in the wrong hands.

For example, a lot of banks today let customers do all kinds of transactions directly from their app without even having to go to an ATM or bank branch. This is super convenient and it’s hard to imagine a life without these benefits. However, this has also made thieves even more interested in stealing smartphones.

So what? Smartphones have passwords and biometric authentication

Some of you may be wondering just that. How would it be possible to access all the apps on a smartphone if the device is protected by a password, or even better, by Face ID or Touch ID? It turns out, criminals have found ways around this – and I’m not even talking about advanced exploits to hack the phone.

In one of the examples given by WSJ’s Joanna Stern, a group of thieves choose a distracted victim to steal their phone. But before they do, one of the thieves discreetly records videos of the victim typing their password to unlock the phone. In some countries like Brazil, armed thieves even ask the victim for the iPhone’s password before stealing it.

And…