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This seems to imply that your device contains the only copy of this information in existence and that cloud backups and PIN keys are inadequate for your securit

This seems to imply that your device contains the only copy of this information in existence and that cloud backups and PIN keys are inadequate for your security requirements. Are people actually trying to steal your information or just the chunk of valuable plastic that's currently a portal for accessing some of it? Meanwhile.. all the animals and sometimes children at my house are more valuable than any of my information, at least, to me. And of course, the most valuable and abstract of them all, my own health.

jameshart 3y ago
It's not losing the information that the computer holds that's the risk. For most people, their computer contains the keys to be able to steal all their money and major assets, commit crimes in their name, defraud their family and friends, and endanger their employment. Those keys are embodied in the trusted ability to access their primary email and social media accounts, and possibly their work accounts too.
- akho 3y ago
  If possession of a laptop allowed that sort of access, the thief could just unlink the device from apple id. Passwords and drive encryption protect data. Remote bricking supposedly decreases the resale value of the laptop hardware, which supposedly makes people steal them less.
  - throwaway290 3y ago
    > which supposedly makes people steal them less. Which achieves the goal (not have laptop with this important info stolen).
- akira2501 3y ago
  Yes, and I can do all that now without your device, and I was able to do it before digital devices became prevalent. Yet, it does not happen, because no one has any motive to do this to you even if the means to do it has now been reduced to simply taking your phone. If someone has that motive then access to your phone will /not/ be the deciding factor. The opportunity costs don't bear out either, as just because someone has an expensive piece of tech, does not mean they have the kind of assets you can drain into Bermuda. The reward ratio is not significant to plan for this eventuality in any meaningful way. Which is why most people when faced with the prospect of insane security will just choose to layer two simpler methods together instead, such as basic old 2FA via SMS or FIDO. These technically reduce security barrier of entry but allow the portions of the implementation to live further apart from each other, which for most people, is enough. Also, if your work didn't issue you a secure PC and trusted 2FA hardware, then allows you to have privileged information like email on your home laptop, that's entirely bad policy on their part.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    >If someone has that motive then access to your phone will /not/ be the deciding factor. Ease of committing a crime is surely a factor in probability of that crime occurring. Far more people are willing to look over a shoulder for someone’s phone PIN or slip them a roofie to get access to bank account apps and transfer money than they are to confront them while conscious and threaten them to give them their money. (Hence the advice to keep access information to only nominal amounts of wealth in phones).
    - throwaway290 3y ago
      > Ease of committing a crime is surely a factor in probability of that crime occurring. The other factor is turning a profit. You have a brick, you can sell it for parts through China and get a few cents. You have a fully functioning phone/laptop, you can sell it for a lot. If everyone had Find My on then stealing Apple hardware would be pointless. It's the orthodoxy geeks who turn it off to feel like they "own" their hardware that make it a chance play & worth a shot for the criminals & hurt normies. > confront them while conscious and threaten them to give them their money This is called robbery, theft means no confrontation.
lotsofpulp 3y ago
> Meanwhile.. all the animals and sometimes children at my house are more valuable than any of my information, at least, to me. I expected loved ones to be excluded from the definition of property in this context, being a discussion about theft and not more violent things like kidnapping. > Are people actually trying to steal your information I do not know everyone’s intentions, I just know what my loss potential is. I do not keep many paper records, so getting into my digital files will give up all of my information as well as TOTP and SMS 2FA codes that serve as proof of my identity. Once someone can prove they are me, then it is an uphill battle for me to prove someone else was being me, and even doing that does not always help.

jameshart 3y ago

It's not losing the information that the computer holds that's the risk. For most people, their computer contains the keys to be able to steal all their money and major assets, commit crimes in their name, defraud their family and friends, and endanger their employment. Those keys are embodied in the trusted ability to access their primary email and social media accounts, and possibly their work accounts too.

akho 3y ago
If possession of a laptop allowed that sort of access, the thief could just unlink the device from apple id. Passwords and drive encryption protect data. Remote bricking supposedly decreases the resale value of the laptop hardware, which supposedly makes people steal them less.
- throwaway290 3y ago
  > which supposedly makes people steal them less. Which achieves the goal (not have laptop with this important info stolen).
akira2501 3y ago
Yes, and I can do all that now without your device, and I was able to do it before digital devices became prevalent. Yet, it does not happen, because no one has any motive to do this to you even if the means to do it has now been reduced to simply taking your phone. If someone has that motive then access to your phone will /not/ be the deciding factor. The opportunity costs don't bear out either, as just because someone has an expensive piece of tech, does not mean they have the kind of assets you can drain into Bermuda. The reward ratio is not significant to plan for this eventuality in any meaningful way. Which is why most people when faced with the prospect of insane security will just choose to layer two simpler methods together instead, such as basic old 2FA via SMS or FIDO. These technically reduce security barrier of entry but allow the portions of the implementation to live further apart from each other, which for most people, is enough. Also, if your work didn't issue you a secure PC and trusted 2FA hardware, then allows you to have privileged information like email on your home laptop, that's entirely bad policy on their part.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  >If someone has that motive then access to your phone will /not/ be the deciding factor. Ease of committing a crime is surely a factor in probability of that crime occurring. Far more people are willing to look over a shoulder for someone’s phone PIN or slip them a roofie to get access to bank account apps and transfer money than they are to confront them while conscious and threaten them to give them their money. (Hence the advice to keep access information to only nominal amounts of wealth in phones).
  - throwaway290 3y ago
    > Ease of committing a crime is surely a factor in probability of that crime occurring. The other factor is turning a profit. You have a brick, you can sell it for parts through China and get a few cents. You have a fully functioning phone/laptop, you can sell it for a lot. If everyone had Find My on then stealing Apple hardware would be pointless. It's the orthodoxy geeks who turn it off to feel like they "own" their hardware that make it a chance play & worth a shot for the criminals & hurt normies. > confront them while conscious and threaten them to give them their money This is called robbery, theft means no confrontation.

lotsofpulp 3y ago

> Meanwhile.. all the animals and sometimes children at my house are more valuable than any of my information, at least, to me. I expected loved ones to be excluded from the definition of property in this context, being a discussion about theft and not more violent things like kidnapping. > Are people actually trying to steal your information I do not know everyone’s intentions, I just know what my loss potential is. I do not keep many paper records, so getting into my digital files will give up all of my information as well as TOTP and SMS 2FA codes that serve as proof of my identity. Once someone can prove they are me, then it is an uphill battle for me to prove someone else was being me, and even doing that does not always help.