Even the tech expert from 'Mr. Robot' can’t figure out this iPhone hack

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/30/mr-robot-s-tech-expert-can-t-figure-out-this-iphone-hack/

By Violet Blue
Bad Password
Engadget.com
September 30, 2019

If your dad were the technical advisor for the realistic hacks on Mr. Robot and
he lovingly micromanaged your gadgets, you'd probably feel pretty badass about
the security of your personal devices. So when one of Marc Rogers' kids had
their iPhone pickpocketed at San Francisco Pride this year, things took an
unexpected turn when tech-savvy thieves pulled off hacking tricks that had
Rogers beside himself with curiosity and fascination. And concern. Lots of
concern.

"Since this was my kid we are talking about, the phone was up to date and had a
strong password and FaceID enabled, and activation lock was turned on," Rogers
told Engadget via email. The teen noticed the phone missing within 10 minutes of
its theft and immediately began security protocols. "As soon as the phone was
found to be missing it was switched to Lost Mode and later a wipe command was
sent to it," he explained.

Since that's exactly what you're supposed to do, that should have been the end
of it. A loss to be sure, and a pain to start over with a new iPhone. Except
Rogers noticed that neither the Lost Mode activation or wipe command went
through, leading him to "believe the phone has been immediately powered down or
placed in a bag that blocked signals. That and the fact that it never resurfaced
told me that whoever stole it knew what they were doing and had done this
before."

Most likely, the iPhone was powered down immediately and placed in a radio
frequency-blocking bag (also called a Faraday Bag or RFID bag), a foil-lined
sleeve or even an empty potato chip bag. This step interferes with Activation
Lock, Find My iPhone, and Remote Wipe. In fact, after anti-theft "kill switch"
features were introduced, iPhone theft rate dropped by 40 percent in San
Francisco and 25 percent in New York within 12 months. London saw its iPhone
thefts reduced by half.

[...]



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