Some thieves are locking users out of their iPhones permanently by gaining control over their devices, making it impossible for owners to access their data, CNN reported.
This is done by the iPhone thievesexploiting a security setting, called the recovery key. This restricts the owners from accessing theirphotos, messages, data and more, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.
This also puts the bank accounts data at risk as some of the victims said that they lost money after the thieves gained access to their financial apps.
There are a few steps on how users can protect their data from thieves.
The first thing users can do is protect their passcode by usingFace ID or Touch ID when unlocking their phones in public. This would keep their passcode safe from anyone watching their phones.
They should set up a hard passcode which would be difficult for thieves tofigure out and also change the passcode if they feel like it is at risk.
Users have an option which allowsguardians to restrict the device's usage for the kids. Owners canset up a secondary password that would be "required from any user before they could successfully change an Apple ID".
If you have this enabled, the thieves would be asked to add thatsecondary password before changing an Apple ID password.
Users need to backup their iPhones regularly so that data can be recovered if they lose their phones. They should also store important or sensitive photos/data incloud service.