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Apple's New Stolen Device Protection Enhances iPhone Security

The feature in iOS 17.3 uses location and biometrics to protect against thieves who know the user's passcode.

  • Apple introduces Stolen Device Protection, a new security feature in iOS 17.3, to protect users from thieves who know their passcode.
  • The feature uses the iPhone's location to determine if the user is in a familiar place like home or work. If not, it requires Face ID or Touch ID in addition to the passcode for sensitive actions.
  • Stolen Device Protection also implements an hour-long delay before sensitive actions can be performed, requiring a reconfirmation with another biometric scan.
  • The feature aims to prevent thieves from changing the user's Apple ID password, turning off Find My, enabling a recovery key, accessing passwords in Keychain, and deleting iCloud data.
  • To enable Stolen Device Protection, users need to have an iPhone running iOS 17.3 or later and have Face ID or Touch ID enabled on their device.
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