Yup. For the unaware, your phone is likely encrypted at startup, and uses your PIN/password as a key. So if you turn it off, they’ll have a hell of a time breaking into it.
At the very least, initiate an emergency mode. On iOS, this can be done by holding the lock and volume down buttons for a few seconds. It will show the “Emergency Dial” option, along with the power down option and the medical ID option. Once you have seen that screen, the phone is locked until the PIN is used. It disables all biometrics, so they can’t just use your face or thumb print to unlock it. And this makes it significantly harder for them to access your phone.
Yeah, but then don’t kill it with a fucking 4 digit PIN or pattern. Use a good password. Yes, it takes longer to type it in, but it would take far longer to brute-force.
When I was about 15 I created a list of eight character, randomly generated passwords. I memorized about 10 of them and to this day different combinations have been used for things like disk encryption, Apple ID, etc. I use a password manager for just about everything but there are a few things where knowing your password is a must, so brute-force memorization can be the way to go.
For what it’s worth, only one of the passwords was in a data leak before I started combining them. It happened to be a weaker password anyway (no mixed case) so I use it sparingly for low-priority offline stuff.
This is also an important note for airports. I always fully power off my phone before going through security and/or border control (when flying out of YVR they’re one and the same). The last time you’ll be asked for your bordering pass is when queueing for security, so you can turn it off (assuming you’ve got a digital boarding pass) after that point and only power it back on when you arrive at your gate.
For the truly paranoid use a paper boarding pass - no airlines or airports that I’ve ever been to require digital passes, there are people without phones or phone plans that still must be allowed to board planes. I’m curious if Singapore or the UAE might only allow digital passes because they’ve leaned hard into digitization - but nearly all the world still has some user path for paper boarding passes.
If you can’t turn off your iPhone, squeeze the volume up button and power button at the same time. This puts the phone in before first unlock mode and requires passcode. It’s faster than turning the phone off.
That said, turning it off also works.
The reason you want to do these things is it clears encryption keys from memory and makes it harder to get at your data.
Another easy tip to remember: if you have your device on you and you think it’s going to be confiscated, TURN IT OFF.
LE has a very limited toolset when it comes to unlocking a device before it’s first unlock when you boot it up.
Source: I work in this field
Yup. For the unaware, your phone is likely encrypted at startup, and uses your PIN/password as a key. So if you turn it off, they’ll have a hell of a time breaking into it.
At the very least, initiate an emergency mode. On iOS, this can be done by holding the lock and volume down buttons for a few seconds. It will show the “Emergency Dial” option, along with the power down option and the medical ID option. Once you have seen that screen, the phone is locked until the PIN is used. It disables all biometrics, so they can’t just use your face or thumb print to unlock it. And this makes it significantly harder for them to access your phone.
Android has an equivilent mode called “Lockdown mode”, where you activate it by holding the power button and pressing “Lockdown”.
For both devices, though, I would still recommend either shutting down or rebooting (and not unlocking) the device.
Yeah, but then don’t kill it with a fucking 4 digit PIN or pattern. Use a good password. Yes, it takes longer to type it in, but it would take far longer to brute-force.
20 characters or more
When I was about 15 I created a list of eight character, randomly generated passwords. I memorized about 10 of them and to this day different combinations have been used for things like disk encryption, Apple ID, etc. I use a password manager for just about everything but there are a few things where knowing your password is a must, so brute-force memorization can be the way to go.
For what it’s worth, only one of the passwords was in a data leak before I started combining them. It happened to be a weaker password anyway (no mixed case) so I use it sparingly for low-priority offline stuff.
Fortunately you’re an adult now and know about password managers. Only memorize one password. Generate the rest.
This is also an important note for airports. I always fully power off my phone before going through security and/or border control (when flying out of YVR they’re one and the same). The last time you’ll be asked for your bordering pass is when queueing for security, so you can turn it off (assuming you’ve got a digital boarding pass) after that point and only power it back on when you arrive at your gate.
For the truly paranoid use a paper boarding pass - no airlines or airports that I’ve ever been to require digital passes, there are people without phones or phone plans that still must be allowed to board planes. I’m curious if Singapore or the UAE might only allow digital passes because they’ve leaned hard into digitization - but nearly all the world still has some user path for paper boarding passes.
If you can’t turn off your iPhone, squeeze the volume up button and power button at the same time. This puts the phone in before first unlock mode and requires passcode. It’s faster than turning the phone off.
That said, turning it off also works.
The reason you want to do these things is it clears encryption keys from memory and makes it harder to get at your data.