If you’re an iPad or iPhone user in New York City, you’d better watch your back: The NYC Police Department reports that theft of mobile Apple devices has leapt 44 percent in the last year. From the beginning of 2012 until April 15, New York has seen 1,196 iOS devices stolen while, during the same period in 2011, the number was a more modest 831. Sadly, these statistics are coming to light after 26-year-old Hwangbum Yang was shot and killed for his iPhone.
iMore gives a little more insight on the story:
U.S. carriers have recently announced that they’re working on forming a shared database of IMEI serial numbers of stolen mobile phones, which should allow them to remotely lock devices that have been blacklisted. While determined thieves are likely to find a work-around, the process will at least act as a deterrent to less-informed criminals.
One very handy thing about Apple products (as any Apple user will tell you) is that the options for theft prevention and retrieval are quite good: Find My iPhone is a free app from Apple that allows you to locate your phone, iPad, iPod or Mac anywhere in the world, remotely lock it, or even remotely wipe it. You can even send messages remotely (like “Hey, S***bird… I’m coming for my phone and you better pray to the God of a**holes that you’re not there when I find it”… at least that’s what I would say). Even the device itself can be set to wipe if someone screws up the passcode 10 times or more.
Naturally, the best defence against iOS device theft is your brain… so use it. Don’t go flashing your iDevice around in public places and make sure your security measures are installed and working before anything happens, cause it’s hard to set all that up after it’s pinched.
Source: iMore
