Reprinted from TidBITS by permission; reuse governed by Creative Commons
license BY-NC-ND 3.0. TidBITS has offered years of thoughtful commentary
on Apple and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access to the
entire TidBITS archive, visit http://www.tidbits.com/


            Joanna Stern Interviews iPhone Passcode Thief in Prison

   Adam Engst

   Before Apple announced its upcoming option for increasing iPhone
   security (see '[1]Apple to Introduce Stolen Device Protection in the
   Upcoming iOS 17.3,' 14 December 2023), Joanna Stern of the Wall Street
   Journal was recording this [2]interview with Aaron Johnson, an iPhone
   passcode thief serving 94 months in the Minnesota Correctional
   Facility. Powerful stuff.

   IFRAME: [3]https://www.youtube.com/embed/gi96HKr2vo8?feature=oembed

   Once iOS 17.3 ships, I'll be turning Stolen Device Protection on, and I
   encourage you to do so as well unless Touch ID or Face ID don't work
   reliably for you.

   That said, although Johnson often used video to steal passcodes, the
   technical trickery level in many of these thefts wasn't high'some
   inebriated bar patrons shared their passcodes with Johnson just because
   he asked as part of a story. The moral is still, 'Never give your
   iPhone passcode to anyone you wouldn't trust with your bank account.'

References

   1. https://tidbits.com/2023/12/14/apple-to-introduce-stolen-device-protection-in-the-upcoming-ios-17-3/
   2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi96HKr2vo8
   3. https://www.youtube.com/embed/gi96HKr2vo8?feature=oembed

.