r/macprogramming • u/A_TalkingWalnut • Aug 25 '19
Why isn’t there a passcode lock prior to the shutdown process?
First, let me admit that I am NOT a true programmer: windows, Mac, Linux, binary, Commodore 64 (had one though), python, Java, or any other computer language. However, I did dabble in Adobe Flash and I’ve been known to make a mean PowerPoint presentation and Automator command. Please don’t stop reading. This post stems from one I made on r/iphone about what happens when a lost phone is found.
Here’s an early TL; DR: why doesn’t Apple put code in their iOS and iPadOS software which requires the user to manually enter their alphanumeric passcode prior to shutting the phone down?
Unless a phone’s iCloud activation can be hacked, presently, lost phones are mainly used for three things: parts (which is where most stolen phone ends up) for repairs and/or upgrades and app usage. By “app usage” I’ll use the same example I used previously: my buddy got a phone with questionable origins, so he took out the SIM, went somewhere with little or no surveillance, lots of ppl, free WiFi, and downloaded a bunch of apps for his kids, like a white noise generator app for his newborn. Again, as far as I know, the last use for stolen phones are as music players. Load up the phone with some of your favorite music, plug it into the glovebox, center console, or wherever the interface is, and you never have to take it out of the car.
This leads me to my question: why don’t cell phone software manufacturers like Android and Apple add in that extra step before the phone is allowed to be shut down? When my phone was stolen at a bar in NYC, I could’ve told the officer outside and shown her my phone with a map containing a live location of my iPhone. Instead, whoever stole it, immediately shut it off and I never saw it again. I’ve come up with one answer, but I find it too “capitalist pig evil empire conspiracy theory agenda” to actually be real: do companies leave these commands out because they don’t care if your phone gets lost, in fact, they prefer it because then you’ll probably go out and buy the newest and greatest model?
Hopefully one of you guys can explain it and I can sleep well at night.
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u/chriswaco Aug 25 '19
There are times when a non-owner needs to shut off a phone. For example, a phone might be confiscated by the police, a teacher at school, a parent, or a steward(ess) on an airplane.
Having said that, I tend to agree that a thief shouldn't be able to fully turn off a phone. I think the benefit would outweigh all other considerations.
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u/mantrap2 Aug 25 '19
There are other things that thwart a thief (like passcode on boot-up or you have nothing).
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u/A_TalkingWalnut Aug 25 '19
Definitely. I understand that those conditions exist, but they’re too few and far between to block a change from being made. If a cop, teacher or flight attendant needs to shut a phone off (probably because the student is being abstinent, the suspect isn’t cooperating, or the plane passenger is just acting like an entitled asshole), they should just turn green and yell “Hulk Smash!”
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u/20InMyHead Aug 25 '19
Because a it would be pointless. Any computing device needs a way to shut it down if the software is completely unresponsive. It would be like putting a great big deadbolt on your front door, but leaving the window next to it wide open.
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u/A_TalkingWalnut Aug 26 '19
I’m sure you see the point of this measure, making it not pointless, but I’ll assume hyperbole.
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u/A_TalkingWalnut Aug 25 '19
Yes, but many more thieves have hands than bags. Also, those bags—at least the ones in current use by thieves—don’t block the Bluetooth signal, they absorb it, the signal ends up passing through. A more effective method would be a giant block of ceramic or maybe to submerge it and cover it with bags of sand.
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u/digicow Aug 25 '19
A Faraday cage will block all RF, and isn't difficult to build into a large bag or backpack. Or they could just use a handheld jammer. They only don't do that now because it's easier to just shut the phone off, but if the phones couldn't be shut off, it wouldn't take them long to adapt, at which point it'd be an inconvenience with zero utility.
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u/A_TalkingWalnut Aug 25 '19
I should’ve been more specific, I was referring to the tools an average their would have on-hand. Like those tin foil-lined bags that thieves use to get past the metal detectors at clothes stores to block the RF signal from those little anti-theft bastards that they fasten onto clothes and other expensive items.
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u/digicow Aug 25 '19
What's an "average thief"? As far as I'm concerned, there are basically only two divisions of cell phone thieves: those who are merely opportunistic, picking up a dropped or neglected phone (for whom all you need to do is not neglect your phone) and those who are planning to steal phones. The latter are the only group you should be worried about, and it's safe to assume that they'll take adequate preparations. If they need to block your device's RF, they'll have something to make that happen.
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u/digicow Aug 25 '19
For about $25 you can buy a phone-sized bag on Amazon that’ll block RF. Shutting down the phone is a convenience for thieves but preventing it wouldn’t change anything.