The security of our mobile devices is more important than ever. With the introduction of the new Stolen Device Protection feature in iOS 17.3, Apple offers us an additional tool to protect the data on our iPhone. This is a very interesting feature that, with a single adjustment, exponentially increases our protection. Let's see why and how to activate the anti-theft mode on the iPhone.
What is the Stolen Device Protection on the iPhone and why activate it?
Stolen Device Protection is a security feature designed to provide additional protection in case an iPhone is lost or stolen. With this feature activated, biometric verification is required, as the device's passcode—which could have been seen by someone—is not sufficient to perform sensitive actions when the device is not in trusted locations, such as home or work. This includes being able to consult the keychain passwords, for example.
Additionally, it includes a one-hour delay and two positive biometric identifications to perform maximum security actions on the iPhone. Thus, actions such as changing the Apple ID password or the device's passcode enjoy the highest level of protection.
Activating Stolen Device Protection is essential for several reasons. First, it significantly improves the security of our iPhone by preventing access to sensitive information or operations. And the best part is that activating it has practically no effect on the usability of our iPhone, as in the phone's trusted locations, such as our home, these restrictions do not apply.
How to activate the Stolen Device Protection?
Activating what we call the iPhone's anti-theft mode is really easy. The first and most important thing is that our phone is running iOS 17.3 or a later version. Then the steps to follow are as follows:
- Open the Settings app.
- Enter Face ID and passcode or Touch ID and passcode.
- Under the option of "Stolen Device Protection", tap on Activate Protection.
That's it, our iPhone and all its content will automatically be much better protected. However, even with this function activated, it is vitally important to maintain good security practices in public places to complement its effectiveness. This includes avoiding handing our iPhone to strangers, using Face ID or Touch ID instead of entering our code in public, and making sure to keep the iPhone in a safe place when we are not using it.
With that said, the fact that with a small adjustment we can increase the security of our content and data so greatly is something to consider. A feature that arrives to ensure that our iPhone is more robust than ever.
On Hanaringo | 8 tips to improve our security and privacy online