Don't Lose Your iPhone to Holiday Distraction
Juggling a last minute purchase, a bracing festive libation, and an iPhone? Let's hope you don't leave the phone behind. Here are some tips to keep your gadgets safe.
The bustle of last-minute shopping crowds, the flashing holiday lights, big signs touting new sales… these holiday distractions may leave you dizzy. Now more than most times, you just might set your iPhone down next to a tall latte and forget to pick it up when you head back into the shopping fray. Tim Rohrbaugh, VP of Information Security for identity protection giant Intersections, offers some suggestions to keep your iOS device safe.
Active theft of spiffy new iPhones and iPads is on the rise. Rohrbaugh points to New York's recent spike in "gadget theft," mostly cell-phone snatchings. Casual phone-lifting is one thing, but another source reports a rash of active gadget-robberies at WiFi-equipped coffee shops in the Los Angeles area. Thieves dash in, brandish guns, collect all phones and laptops, and speed off in a getaway car.
Rohrbaugh also notes that setting financial apps for any-time access trades convenience for safety. In order to give you that any-time access the app has to store financial data locally on the device. Configuring the app to keep all data online is safer.
Find My iPhone
Rohrbaugh recommends installing Apple's free Find My iPhone app. Once you've installed this app you can log in to iCloud and locate your phone from any computer or mobile device.
You can still use this app even if you don't choose to store all your data in the cloud. As you can see in the image below, I've disabled all iCloud-related features except Find My iPhone.
The iCloud portal offers a number of other options to deal with a missing phone, much as third-party do. It can make the phone play a sound at top volume, even when the sound is muted. That's handy if you've just mislaid it around the house.
You can send a message along with the sound encouraging anyone who found the phone to contact you and arrange return. There's an option to remotely lock the phone so nobody else can access your data. And if you determine that the phone is gone for good, you can completely wipe out its data.
Rorhbaugh's blog post, titled "Parenting for the Digital Native", offers plenty of good advice for keeping your data and your iOS device safe. It's a good read for a cold winter evening.