14 DAY TRIAL // New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón are putting iOS 7’s Activation Lock to the test using experts from the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center.
The duo issued a joint statement last week, acknowledging that, while Apple’s efforts are worthy of their appreciation, the software will need to prove itself in real world scenarios.
“While we are appreciative of the efforts made by Apple and Samsung to improve security of the devices they sell, we are not going to take them at their word,” Schneiderman and Gascón declared.
“Today we will assess the solutions they are proposing and see if they stand up to the tactics commonly employed by thieves,” the duo said last week.
The results are yet to be made public, but it’s known that Gascón and Schneiderman brought in experts from the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center to try to bypass Activation Lock in order to attempt to gain access to the devices, like thieves.
An Apple spokeswoman who was reached for comment said, “[Apple has] led the industry in helping customers protect their lost or stolen devices [since 2009].”
“With Activation Lock, Find My iPhone gives customers even more control over their devices and serves as a theft deterrent by requiring an Apple ID and password to turn off Find My iPhone, erase data or re-activate a device,” Apple added.
The Cupertino giant introduced iOS 7’s Activation Lock at WWDC 2013 this summer, where iOS/OS X SVP Chris Federighi said, “…with Activation Lock, if a thief tries to turn off Find My iPhone, or if they even wipe the device entirely, they will not be able to reactivate it because they don't know your iCloud user name and password.”
“We think this is going to be a really powerful theft deterrent,” added Federighi.