Consumers, thieves like iPhones

Posted by kent on July 2nd, 2009

The iPhone and other smart phones are proving popular with the least coveted of all demographics: pickpockets and muggers. This article from Reuters points out that in New York City, while petty crime is not on the rise, the theft of the smart phone is. The article focuses on new anti-theft technologies that enable users to trace their phones, as well as activate alarms on them, and allow for remote wiping of the phone's data. The latter is particularly important for the prevention of identity theft. While a stolen iPhone is costly and inconvenient, the data that's on it may cost you a whole lot more.

There are other ways to help protect yourself from iPhone theft as well:

1. Ditch those white Apple iPhone earbuds; they're a telltale sign.

2. Make sure you're using a passcode (and wipe your screen down frequently, so no one sees the smudgy evidence of the passcode digits).

3. If you're really concerned about the passcode, you can download Apple's iPhone configuration utility and enable longer alpha numeric passcodes. The more characters you use, the larger the possible key combinations.

4. There's an option in the passcode settings to have the iPhone erase itself if the wrong passcode is entered 10 times. That will help protect your personal data if the iPhone falls into the wrong hands.

If you do lose your iPhone, check out our guide on how to recover from a lost or stolen iPhone. Remember, this is as much about information theft as it is about the loss of your device. You can protect yourself against identity theft by using one of the many options in our identity theft protection service reviews section.

• How to recover from a lost or stolen iPhone
• Apple to offer new "Find My iPhone" feature for lost or stolen iPhones
• Apple OKs VoIP over wifi for the iPhone
• Identity Theft Restitution Act adds harsher federal penalties for identity thieves and hackers
• Vonage iPhone App Coming Soon?