Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, September 9, 2009
Crime / City / Tech iPhone-Havers: Unite and Conquer
Posted by David Schmader on Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 10:55 AM
A sad tale and helpful suggestion from Slog tipper Erin:
I was riding the 43 bus from UW to the Convention Center on Friday morning around 11 am. I was sitting in the seat directly behind the back door, reading my iPhone and minding my own business. At 23rd and John, the kid riding in the seat across the aisle pulled the stop cord and asked for the back door. As he was leaving the bus, he grabbed my phone out of my hand, ripping the headphone cord out, and ran away. The driver of the 43 was very helpful, as was the Seattle Police department. But there's only so much they can do. You might want to let other Slog readers know that if a 14ish-year-old black kid wearing a dark red sweatshirt is on the bus near them, they should keep their possessions stowed as safely as possible. I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else. But, the joke is on him, because my phone is locked. Without my passcode, no one else can use the phone without contacting Apple, who will know the phone belongs to me. So if you haven't put a passcode on your phone, do it now. If everyone protects themselves, the market for stolen iPhones will drop.
1
"...if a 14ish-year-old black kid wearing a dark red sweatshirt is on the bus near them, they should keep thier possessions stowed as safely as possible."
Um.
Um.
2
Yeah, but will Apple do anything to help you get your phone back? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/techno…
4
If you have a mobileME account, you can use the tracking information. Sometimes police will help, sometimes not.
Oh, and be sure that you keep your valuables hidden from black kids!
Oh, and be sure that you keep your valuables hidden from black kids!
5
I can fix the typo, but I can't fix the racist implications.
How about everybody always keeps their possessions stowed as safely as possible?
How about everybody always keeps their possessions stowed as safely as possible?
8
@2:
Apple won't actively help, they're not law enforcement, but they do provide the tools.
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main…
Apple won't actively help, they're not law enforcement, but they do provide the tools.
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main…
9
Or at least hold onto your shit with an iron grip.
Anyway, it's a calculated risk. There's little point to owning an iPhone if you can't use it in public.
Anyway, it's a calculated risk. There's little point to owning an iPhone if you can't use it in public.
10
This isn't racist as much as it's plug ignorant.
Hide things from all 14-year old black kids? "Excuse me, son, how old are you? Oh. 15? Carry on..." Stupid.
Wearing a red sweatshirt? Um, he's going to wear the same thing every day? Stupid.
Naming the race, age and last-known-outfit of the criminal to help people not be a victim of future crime? Not stupid and not racist.
Hide things from all 14-year old black kids? "Excuse me, son, how old are you? Oh. 15? Carry on..." Stupid.
Wearing a red sweatshirt? Um, he's going to wear the same thing every day? Stupid.
Naming the race, age and last-known-outfit of the criminal to help people not be a victim of future crime? Not stupid and not racist.
12
@10, agree...it was simply a description of the kid who stole the item. What, if you mention the race of the person that's committed the crime against you that's racist?
And I think yr being too harsh on the person using the item. They're made so you can use them in your hand! The person was in the process of using their phone, and until recently it was unusual for these things to be snatched. Should people not use their laptops in public now because they're being snatched off tables?
And I think yr being too harsh on the person using the item. They're made so you can use them in your hand! The person was in the process of using their phone, and until recently it was unusual for these things to be snatched. Should people not use their laptops in public now because they're being snatched off tables?
14
I'm still surprised this doesn't happen more often. iPhone passcode hacks are hardly impossible to obtain, and Apple's success in getting the aspiring classes to put valuable stuff on them means hackers will delight in keeping up with the latest security patches.
17
so is the writer supposed to omit race from the description? that would be like leaving out gender.
19
Also make sure you have GPS turned on. My brother's friend was mugged for his iPhone, so he had someone track its movements on the internet while he and the cops drove around looking for the mugger. He had it back within a couple of hours.
20
The same thing almost happened to my partner (except she had the Kung Fu grip, and the little fucker didn't get away with it). Stupid kids. What's wrong with parents these days that they don't teach their offspring that if they want something, they have to work hard for it, and not just steal from people who worked hard and saved up for the fancy toys they want?
Stupid parents.
Stupid parents.
21
Password protect your phone to protect your private info, but if you can't afford to loose it, either be more aware of your surroundings, or don't flaunt it in public.
A friend of mine got jumped by four kids for his iPhone the other day. They didn't get it, but compounded with a dozen similar stories I've heard, they're the de regueur item of theft.
A friend of mine got jumped by four kids for his iPhone the other day. They didn't get it, but compounded with a dozen similar stories I've heard, they're the de regueur item of theft.
23
Crazy! I saw this happen to a girl on the same bus at the same location back in May. Be careful on the 43!
24
Hey look at all those facts!
Blacks make up only abut 8% of Seattle but commit over half of all murders there.
http://tinyurl.com/no5knk
From the article "List of 2008 homicides in Seattle" from the Seattle PI
selected from the list of the 28 Seattle homicides in 2008....
Allen Joplin, Jan. 4 -- black killed by black
De'Che Morrison, Jan. 10 -- black killed by black
Maurice "Moe" Allen Jr., Jan. 26 -- black killed by black
Degene Barecha, Jan. 30 -- black killed by black
Perry Henderson, Feb. 6 -- black killed by black
Stephan Dwaine Stewart, April 2 -- black killed by black
Eldora Earlycutt, July 4 -- black killed by black
James Paroline, July 10 -- white killed by black
Troy Peters, July 22 -- black killed by black
Pierre Lapoint, Aug. 5 -- black killed by black
Jane Kariuki, Oct. 16 -- woman of unknown race killed by black man named Christel D. Murphy
Quincy S. Coleman, Oct. 31 -- black killed by black
Edward McMichael, the "Tuba Man", Nov. 3 -- white killed by multiple blacks
Nathaniel Lee Thomas, Nov. 23 -- black killed by black
So by my count blacks (8% of Seattle) were the killers in at least half (that's at least 50%) of the murders in the Seattle area in 2008. At least five of the other murderers were latinos.
The numbers are actually quite a bit worse for 2009 and do approach the 85% mark, if not just totally surpassing it.
Blacks make up only abut 8% of Seattle but commit over half of all murders there.
http://tinyurl.com/no5knk
From the article "List of 2008 homicides in Seattle" from the Seattle PI
selected from the list of the 28 Seattle homicides in 2008....
Allen Joplin, Jan. 4 -- black killed by black
De'Che Morrison, Jan. 10 -- black killed by black
Maurice "Moe" Allen Jr., Jan. 26 -- black killed by black
Degene Barecha, Jan. 30 -- black killed by black
Perry Henderson, Feb. 6 -- black killed by black
Stephan Dwaine Stewart, April 2 -- black killed by black
Eldora Earlycutt, July 4 -- black killed by black
James Paroline, July 10 -- white killed by black
Troy Peters, July 22 -- black killed by black
Pierre Lapoint, Aug. 5 -- black killed by black
Jane Kariuki, Oct. 16 -- woman of unknown race killed by black man named Christel D. Murphy
Quincy S. Coleman, Oct. 31 -- black killed by black
Edward McMichael, the "Tuba Man", Nov. 3 -- white killed by multiple blacks
Nathaniel Lee Thomas, Nov. 23 -- black killed by black
So by my count blacks (8% of Seattle) were the killers in at least half (that's at least 50%) of the murders in the Seattle area in 2008. At least five of the other murderers were latinos.
The numbers are actually quite a bit worse for 2009 and do approach the 85% mark, if not just totally surpassing it.
25
My house was robbed and some electronics (laptop, ipod touch, camera) were nabbed...all password protected and locked. The police tracked the camera down to a pawn shop and caught the kid that sold it. He was black...so were the other two adults he squealed on. Am I a racist too? Because I could have sworn that I was a victim.
26
Maybe we should pray to Obama to make the "people of color" stop committing such an extraordinarily vast amount of violent crime in our country.
27
Keylocking is not going to help - a thief can always just restore the default settings and sell it on Craigslist (http://seattle.craigslist.org/search/ele…)
31
It's not so much what was said as what wasn't said. Was the robber short or tall? Fat or thin? Having a rough estimate of these characteristics would have been at least as useful as knowing the color of his skin.
32
The point made by #27 and #29 doesn't just apply to the iPhone.
Physical access is the end-all of computer security. It is the only TRUE protection for your device (hold onto your phone blah blah). Regardless of what software-based protections are in place, those can ALWAYS, theoretically, be circumvented through direct physical access to the hardware. Think Windows administrator password reset boot disk. This is also, in a nutshell, why something like DRM must be built directly into the hardware if it is to provide any protection beyond a minor, easily circumvented impedance.
Physical access is the end-all of computer security. It is the only TRUE protection for your device (hold onto your phone blah blah). Regardless of what software-based protections are in place, those can ALWAYS, theoretically, be circumvented through direct physical access to the hardware. Think Windows administrator password reset boot disk. This is also, in a nutshell, why something like DRM must be built directly into the hardware if it is to provide any protection beyond a minor, easily circumvented impedance.
33
And for what it's worth, hardware-based protections are just obstacles as well, albeit ones that are harder to circumvent and would probably require destroying the device. Even if DRM is built into the CPU/mainboard, someone with direct physical access could theoretically bypass the storage interface and read the bits directly off of the underlying media.
Ever seen a locksmith break into a house in like 5 seconds? Similar idea.
</sidebar>
Ever seen a locksmith break into a house in like 5 seconds? Similar idea.
</sidebar>
34
I've seen iPhones successfully snatched right out of their owners' hands twice this summer on the sidewalk in front of my building. Feeling like a potential target all the time is just another price of owning nice and useful things, I suppose.
35
@33 - Does WAVE security with a fingerprint scan and password combo protect you or can it be circumvented easily as well?
37
...wait, you can restore a passcode locked iPhone via iTunes? Without getting a passcode prompt or anything? Lame.
38
My iPhone has a cracked glass front. It works just fine even after a pretty severe drop and I don't worry about it being stolen.
39
My apartment, a block down from the John and 23rd stop, was just broken into. My iPhone CHARGER was stolen, along with every other charger in my apartment. Also (in addition to sentimental, irreplaceable items), all of my hair products, hair brushes, toothpaste, recyclables, soda and stale grapes from my fridge were taken. Does anyone have any more info on these types of thefts? They left my actual electronics (except for a spare laptop), but were mostly interested in the power cords.
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