3 ms·

If someone steals your phone all they have to do so you won't find it is to wrap it in aluminium foil.

katbyte 5y ago
and keep it wrapped till they get to their hideout which is in a faraday cage and then proceed to wipe it and bypass the activation lock. it's another hassel for thieves which imho is a good thing. Might as well argue "why lock you door when all someone needs is a bump key!"
- sudosysgen 5y ago
  Except they don't. Thieves don't know how change the ESN of a phone or how to bypass an iCloud Lock. They have fences that either sell the phones for parts or bypass the security features. It's how it works for a few years already now. The only difference is now instead of turning off the phones they'll put it in a metallized plastic bag.
  - katbyte 5y ago
    Sure, either way it’s another deterrent. Also huh you finally gave me a reason why apple may be locking its hardware components now.
    - sudosysgen 5y ago
      But it's really not. They already have to find a fence beforehand, what does it change if the fence gives you a procedure for turning it off without the password or if they just give you a bag? Thieves and fences always figure out how to bypass the component lockdowns.
SilverRed 5y ago
It's just another barrier. With enough hassle, people will move to stealing other easier things. When find my was released, phone theft went down massively. Not every criminal wants to make the jump from just grabbing a phone off the table, to having an RF blocking bag, transporting to an RF proof room, and then pulling the phone to bits to sell for pennies since the parts don't work properly when swapped in to another phone.
- sudosysgen 5y ago
  It's not a significant barrier anymore. For a while now to steal a phone you needed a fence. The fence will just give you a metallised bag and you'll put the phone in it. It's not really more complicated than turning off the phone as thieves already do. As for the software features, they've always been and will always be bypassable. People figure out how to defeat iCloud Lock, how to change ESN/IMEI/IMSI already. It's easily a 30 million dollar market, people will continue to figure it out.

and keep it wrapped till they get to their hideout which is in a faraday cage and then proceed to wipe it and bypass the activation lock. it's another hassel for thieves which imho is a good thing. Might as well argue "why lock you door when all someone needs is a bump key!"

sudosysgen 5y ago
Except they don't. Thieves don't know how change the ESN of a phone or how to bypass an iCloud Lock. They have fences that either sell the phones for parts or bypass the security features. It's how it works for a few years already now. The only difference is now instead of turning off the phones they'll put it in a metallized plastic bag.
- katbyte 5y ago
  Sure, either way it’s another deterrent. Also huh you finally gave me a reason why apple may be locking its hardware components now.
  - sudosysgen 5y ago
    But it's really not. They already have to find a fence beforehand, what does it change if the fence gives you a procedure for turning it off without the password or if they just give you a bag? Thieves and fences always figure out how to bypass the component lockdowns.

SilverRed 5y ago

It's just another barrier. With enough hassle, people will move to stealing other easier things. When find my was released, phone theft went down massively. Not every criminal wants to make the jump from just grabbing a phone off the table, to having an RF blocking bag, transporting to an RF proof room, and then pulling the phone to bits to sell for pennies since the parts don't work properly when swapped in to another phone.

sudosysgen 5y ago
It's not a significant barrier anymore. For a while now to steal a phone you needed a fence. The fence will just give you a metallised bag and you'll put the phone in it. It's not really more complicated than turning off the phone as thieves already do. As for the software features, they've always been and will always be bypassable. People figure out how to defeat iCloud Lock, how to change ESN/IMEI/IMSI already. It's easily a 30 million dollar market, people will continue to figure it out.