Our phones are gateways to everything we care about — our most sensitive communications, our life savings, our photos. You'd think all of this would be protected by something more complicated than a four- or six-digit passcode.
However, as we reported, thieves across the country are stealing iPhones and their passcodes. You get it all: cash from the banking app, access to credit cards through Apple AAPL - 1.80% down; point down to pay with the red triangle, and more.
That same code also grants these crooks the ability to gag people from logging into their Apple accounts. Years of photographs, notes and messages from loved ones?Gone. It prompted us to consider: should we really believe all of our data to just one large technology company?
"We share the sympathies of those who have experienced this, and we take all attacks on our users very seriously, even if they're rare," said Apple Inc. The spokeswoman said, further stating that the company claims these incidents are rare because they require the theft of the device and the passcode. "We will continue to enhance the safeguards to safeguard account ownership," she said.
****The anatomy of the attack****
The thief observes you type your security code, then steals your iPhone. Using both a device and a passcode,
the thief can...