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Apple Quietly Introduced iPhone Reboot Code Which is Locking Out Cops (www.404media.co)

submitted 1 month ago by Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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Apple quietly introduced code into iOS 18.1 which reboots the device if it has not been unlocked for a period of time, reverting it to a state which improves the security of iPhones overall and is making it harder for police to break into the devices, according to multiple iPhone security experts.

On Thursday, 404 Media reported that law enforcement officials were freaking out that iPhones which had been stored for examination were mysteriously rebooting themselves. At the time the cause was unclear, with the officials only able to speculate why they were being locked out of the devices. Now a day later, the potential reason why is coming into view.

“Apple indeed added a feature called ‘inactivity reboot’ in iOS 18.1.,” Dr.-Ing. Jiska Classen, a research group leader at the Hasso Plattner Institute, tweeted after 404 Media published on Thursday along with screenshots that they presented as the relevant pieces of code.

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[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 2 points 1 month ago

Also: set a nonstandard finger in a weird way as your finger unlock if you wanna use that

I actually do this. 3 wrong attempts and the phone requires a password.

I consider it a very light measure and not something to rely on alone, but it's a bit of a no-brainer for how easy and unobtrusive this is.