Wild: iPhones cops confiscated as evidence are suddenly rebooting en masse, making them *much* harder for police to hack.

[jasonkoebler@mastodon.social]

Wild: iPhones cops confiscated as evidence are suddenly rebooting en masse, making them *much* harder for police to hack. Cops theorize Apple pushed an update where iPhones communicate w/ each other and tells them to reboot if not connected to a network

Police Freak Out at iPhones Mysteriously Rebooting Themselves, Locking Cops Out

Law enforcement believe the activity, which makes it harder to then unlock the phones, may be due to a potential update in iOS 18 which tells nearby iPhones to reboot if they have not been in contact with a cellular network for some time, according to a document obtained by 404 Media.

404 Media (www.404media.co)

[beandev@social.tchncs.de]

@jasonkoebler
Btw., this is a feature in Android. On disconnect from internet the Android phone can log out and lock the phone. It's an option in security settings. (and yes, not a reboot)
@jwildeboer

[jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net]

@beandev "can" being the difference here. On iPhone it seems to be default. @jasonkoebler

[donw@mastodon.coffee]

@jasonkoebler @inthehands I’d believe what I read in tea leaves before something about technology that “cops theorize.” I’ve lost track of the number of false news reports I’ve seen about technology concerns from credulous police departments.

Seems far more likely that if they can’t get a cell signal that they’re burning a lot more battery trying to connect to a tower and then running out of juice/overheating and rebooting. But the update explanation conveniently makes it someone else’s fault.

[inthehands@hachyderm.io]

@donw @jasonkoebler Per the article, there may be some innocuous new change in iOS 18 that makes sustained “no signal” conditions trigger a reboot sooner, which is fully compatible with your guess.

(And yes, agreed that “cops notice” is a particularly unreliable form of anecdata.)