New Apple Tool Checks iPhones for ‘Kill Switch’ Security
Starting next summer, a new law will require every smartphone sold in California to include a so-called kill switch, which renders the device unusable if it is reported lost or stolen. The iPhone already supports that feature, and the company recently released a tool to check whether an Apple device has the kill switch turned on.
With the tool, available on Apple’s iCloud website and first reported by the iDownloadBlog,
users can enter a device’s serial number or the so-called IMEI, another
unique identification number assigned to each phone. The web tool will
say whether the kill switch feature, called Activation Lock, is enabled.
If a device still has
Activation Lock turned on, that could mean it has been reported lost or
stolen, or the owner has simply forgotten to deactivate the feature
before putting it up for sale. With Activation Lock turned on, the
device could be unusable without the Apple username and password of the
owner.
That comes in handy in
a few cases. People buying a used iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch via eBay
or Craigslist, for example, can ask for the identification number of the
device before agreeing to buy it. Resellers, or businesses that buy
used phones, could also require sellers to share the identification
number of each iPhone so they can check whether the device has
Activation Lock turned on before offering to buy it.
Apple introduced Activation Lock last year amid complaints from law enforcement authorities
that phone carriers and technology companies were not trying hard
enough to combat cellphone theft, which has become a frequent urban
crime.
In August, Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed the measure requiring all smartphones sold in California to include a kill switch.
Microsoft and Google have said they plan to introduce the antitheft tool in future versions of their mobile software systems.
No comments:
Post a Comment