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Apple’s iPhone Passcode Problem: Thieves Can Ruin Your Entire Digital Life in Minutes | WSJ

The Wall Street Journal · 1.9M views · 2023-02-24 · 9:00

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Overview

A WSJ investigation by Joanna Stern into iPhone thieves who watch victims enter their passcode, then use it to lock them out of Apple accounts and drain bank and payment apps. It explains how the thefts work and how to protect yourself.

On Hacker News

HN cites it as evidence that knowing an iPhone passcode is enough to take over an Apple account.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2023–2023

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What people said

lazycouchpotato · 2023-09 · Reference

They don't need to force anyone to do anything. They can just shoulder surf you entering your PIN. [VIDEO]

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menus · 2023-06 · Criticism

> Lower chance of identity theft [VIDEO] > Fewer privacy violations The only reason Apple booted Facebook tracking is to become the next Facebook in tracking with its ads. (1) (2) (1) [LINK] (2) [LINK]

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devoutsalsa · 2023-04 · Reference

I’m also concerned about the the iPhone passcode problem. You can change the password on someone’s Apple account with only the passcode. There’s no prompt to enter the old password at all. Apple’s iPhone Passcode Problem: Thieve’s Can Ruin Your Entire Digital Life In Minutes | WSJ [VIDEO]

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Video by The Wall Street Journal, played through YouTube.

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