Things the guys who stole my phone have texted me to try to get me to unlock it - Gothamist

1984@lemmy.today to Technology@lemmy.world – 903 points – Things the guys who stole my phone have texted me to try to get me to unlock it
gothamist.com

This is a very entertaining and educational article, giving insights into the methods used by thiefs to try and get access to your phone data.

I don't like Apple but it's great that their security is so good when it comes to this.

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For what it's worth, they're trying to fix that with Android 15. Not sure if this is one of the features they'll also be back porting to older phones too like this article briefly touches on, but either way it sounds like if you factory reset the phone, it can't be set up again unless they know your login: https://www.wired.com/story/android-15-theft-detection-lock/

Google says in a blog post, the company is adding four data protection features that can help keep your information locked down. The first stops your phone from being set up after a factory reset, unless the person knows your login details. “This renders a stolen device unsellable, reducing incentives for phone theft,” Google vice president Suzanne Frey writes.

Doesn't that already exist as the Factory Reset Protection (FRP) partition?

Yeah, I've had to wipe pixel devices the dirty way and it prompts (requires) your credentials to continue. Maybe it's a pixel exclusive, and others are getting it via a15?

No, its not exclusive. But FRP can be bypassed if you know the right tools.

Honestly not too familiar with that. I imagine if they're touting this as a new thing, FRP either does something different or was lacking compared to this in some way.

Though it is Google, they could have just killed FRP in favor of this and added messaging features like they do with everything else