Joshua Francis Whalen

I'd like to drop an idea here for some enterprising objc programmer.

iPhone theft here in NYC is frequent & growing. While apps like
findmyiphone are sometimes helpful, thieves learn fast, & in NYC they've
come to understand that the first thing to do after stealing a phone is to
power it off.

I'd like to see an app that disables power-off, but pretends to power off
the phone. The slider shows, the pinwheel spins, the screen goes black,
while invisibly, the cameras come on and video & gps data start streaming
to pre-set page.

Just a thought. I'd write it myself if I had the skills. I think it would
sell big here in NYC.

JF Mezei

Joshua Francis Whalen wrote:

> I'd like to see an app that disables power-off, but pretends to power off
> the phone.


This would only be possible on a jailbroken phone to allow an app to
intercept those button push events.

Davoud

Joshua Francis Whalen:

> I'd like to drop an idea here for some enterprising objc programmer.
>
> iPhone theft here in NYC is frequent & growing. While apps like
> findmyiphone are sometimes helpful, thieves learn fast, & in NYC they've
> come to understand that the first thing to do after stealing a phone is to
> power it off.
>
> I'd like to see an app that disables power-off, but pretends to power off
> the phone. The slider shows, the pinwheel spins, the screen goes black,
> while invisibly, the cameras come on and video & gps data start streaming
> to pre-set page.
>
> Just a thought. I'd write it myself if I had the skills. I think it would
> sell big here in NYC.

Wouldn't the thieves learn to delete that app before turning the phone
off?

--
I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that
you will say in your entire life.

usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm

Joshua Whalen

Well, sure, I expect it would be cydia app, not an app store app. One
more good reason to jailbreak, right?

In response Davoud, not if you hide it's icon and it configures through
settings.

Ideally, said app would require a password to disable. Attempting to
disable it and failing to input a password or inputting the wrong one
would silently send data to the owner, including a/v and gps info.

I'd love to write this myself, if I knew how. I think it's the killer
app, in all honesty. The times had a piece on iphone theft recently;
it's the fastest growing crime in NYC, and therefor, a fast-growing
market for protections. Kryptonite makes a fortune playing
guns-and-armor with bike thieves. Doing the same with phone thieves has
the same growth potential, imho.

If you write this app on my advice, btw, I'd love to be your beta tester.

Joshua

In article <4f2c2007$0$27928$c3e8da3$f017e9df@news.astraweb.c om>,
JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> Joshua Francis Whalen wrote:
>
> > I'd like to see an app that disables power-off, but pretends to power off
> > the phone.
>
>
> This would only be possible on a jailbroken phone to allow an app to
> intercept those button push events.

Davoud

Joshua Whalen:
> >> I'd like to see an app that disables power-off, but pretends to power off
> >> the phone.

JF Mezei:
> > This would only be possible on a jailbroken phone to allow an app to
> > intercept those button push events.oshua Whalen:

Joshua Whalen:
> Well, sure, I expect it would be cydia app, not an app store app. One
> more good reason to jailbreak, right?

> In response Davoud, not if you hide it's icon and it configures through
> settings.

> Ideally, said app would require a password to disable. Attempting to
> disable it and failing to input a password or inputting the wrong one
> would silently send data to the owner, including a/v and gps info.

> I'd love to write this myself, if I knew how. I think it's the killer
> app, in all honesty. The times had a piece on iphone theft recently;
> it's the fastest growing crime in NYC, and therefor, a fast-growing
> market for protections. Kryptonite makes a fortune playing
> guns-and-armor with bike thieves. Doing the same with phone thieves has
> the same growth potential, imho.

> If you write this app on my advice, btw, I'd love to be your beta tester.

Sorry, I don't program and I don't see any advantage in jail-breaking
my iPhones. The overwhelming majority of iPhone users do not jail-break
their phones, and would not do so--even in NYC--to take advantage of
the software that you proposed. Even with your protections, there's a
good chance I could steal your iPhone and double-wrap it in aluminum
foil to shield it from RF, or greatly reduce the range. Then I could
take it home and restore it or (more likely) fence it quickly and let
someone else worry about your security trap.

In any case, I think that you made your proposal in the wrong place.
Apple has a mechanism for receiving suggestions such as yours.

I have found that the best way to prevent someone from stealing your
iPhone in NYC is to not advertise it. One sees people on the streets
talking into their iPhones, so wrapped up in their conversations that
they are oblivious to their surroundings. You could steal their
underwear before they knew what was happening. Keeping the iPhone in a
pocket or purse will significantly reduce the chances of theft.

The bottom line: there is no sure protection against theft, no sure
guarantee of recovery. There is, however, always Apple, Inc., who will
sell you a new iPhone.

--
I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that
you will say in your entire life.

usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm

JF Mezei

Davoud wrote:
>
> the software that you proposed. Even with your protections, there's a
> good chance I could steal your iPhone and double-wrap it in aluminum
> foil to shield it from RF, or greatly reduce the range. Then I could
> take it home and restore it or (more likely) fence it quickly and let
> someone else worry about your security trap.


Restoring a phone ivolves a transaction which sends the phone's IMEI
and/or serial number to Apple in order for itunes to know to which
carrier the phone should be locked to (or remain unlocked).

This means that Apple would likely have an IP address being used for
that transaction which means that with a warrant, they can get the ISP
to reveal the identity of the person doing the restore.


I am not sure if Apple has a list of stolen phones , but if so, it would
also mean that Apple could permanently disable an iPhone trying to do a
restore if on the list of stolen phones.


Note that with a small screwdriver, there is a hardware way to shutdown
an iPhone: open it and disconnect the battery. So even with that fancy
application that fakes a shutdown, thiefs could still do a proper power
off of the iphone.

nospam

In article <4f2c9617$0$529$c3e8da3$4db35a27@news.astraweb.com >, JF
Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> Note that with a small screwdriver, there is a hardware way to shutdown
> an iPhone: open it and disconnect the battery. So even with that fancy
> application that fakes a shutdown, thiefs could still do a proper power
> off of the iphone.

no need. just pop the sim.

Mike Wilcox

On 2/3/12 6:21 PM, in article
4f2c9617$0$529$c3e8da3$4db35a27@news.astraweb.com, "JF Mezei"
<jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> Davoud wrote:
>>
>> the software that you proposed. Even with your protections, there's a
>> good chance I could steal your iPhone and double-wrap it in aluminum
>> foil to shield it from RF, or greatly reduce the range. Then I could
>> take it home and restore it or (more likely) fence it quickly and let
>> someone else worry about your security trap.
>
>
> Restoring a phone ivolves a transaction which sends the phone's IMEI
> and/or serial number to Apple in order for itunes to know to which
> carrier the phone should be locked to (or remain unlocked).
>
> This means that Apple would likely have an IP address being used for
> that transaction which means that with a warrant, they can get the ISP
> to reveal the identity of the person doing the restore.
>
>
> I am not sure if Apple has a list of stolen phones , but if so, it would
> also mean that Apple could permanently disable an iPhone trying to do a
> restore if on the list of stolen phones.
>
>
> Note that with a small screwdriver, there is a hardware way to shutdown
> an iPhone: open it and disconnect the battery. So even with that fancy
> application that fakes a shutdown, thiefs could still do a proper power
> off of the iphone.
>

And Apple will do nothing to help you if your i* device is stolen. My son's
iPod was stolen once and there is help from them on tracking down the
account that has any serial number registered to it.

Mike

Davoud

JF Mezei:

> I am not sure if Apple has a list of stolen phones , but if so, it would
> also mean that Apple could permanently disable an iPhone trying to do a
> restore if on the list of stolen phones.

I am reminded of the time when I had a portable XM radio stolen from my
car. I phoned XM with the serial number that is required for activation
and deactivation. They said they would deactivate the radio and that it
could not be reactivated except by me, via certain credentials.

Some time later I received an e-mail from XM reminding me that I had
deactivated the radio and wouldn't I like to reactivate it at a special
price. Poor internal communication, or they don't make it their
business whether a radio is stolen, so long as they get their
subscription fee.

--
I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that
you will say in your entire life.

usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm

DevilsPGD

In the last episode of <040220121848249729%star@sky.net>, Davoud
<star@sky.net> said:

>JF Mezei:
>
>> I am not sure if Apple has a list of stolen phones , but if so, it would
>> also mean that Apple could permanently disable an iPhone trying to do a
>> restore if on the list of stolen phones.
>
>I am reminded of the time when I had a portable XM radio stolen from my
>car. I phoned XM with the serial number that is required for activation
>and deactivation. They said they would deactivate the radio and that it
>could not be reactivated except by me, via certain credentials.
>
>Some time later I received an e-mail from XM reminding me that I had
>deactivated the radio and wouldn't I like to reactivate it at a special
>price. Poor internal communication, or they don't make it their
>business whether a radio is stolen, so long as they get their
>subscription fee.

It sounds like they did what they were supposed to do, they left it
attached to your account (so the thief can't reactivate it. This is
good!), but deactivated (so the thief can't just use it on your plan.
This is good too!)

Suppressing deactivated-device emails might not be a bad idea, but it's
a trivial part. Better that they do what they did than cell phone
carriers who really don't make it their business and instead allow
reactivating known-stolen devices.

--
It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to
steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.