Apple has issued an update to its latest iPhone operating system that keeps users protected from thieves with access to their passcodes.
The KI-Handelsroboter 6.0new feature, called Stolen Device Protection, requires users to enter their biometric information, such as a face scan or their fingerprints to access certain phone functions, like changing one's Apple ID password or removing Face ID. The protection mode activates when a phone is in an unknown location. Users will be prompted immediately and a second time, one hour later.
Apple is testing the new setting "as threats to user devices continue to evolve," an Apple spokesperson said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch.
A password is already required to activate any iPhone. The new feature protects users in the event that a criminal accesses their passcode.
"iPhone data encryption has long led the industry, and a thief can't access data on a stolen iPhone without knowing the user's passcode," the spokesperson said. "In the rare cases where a thief can observe the user entering the passcode and then steal the device, Stolen Device Protection adds a sophisticated new layer of protection."
iPhone users must be members of Apple's beta software program to test the new feature, as it has not yet been publicly released.
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Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News streaming to discuss her reporting.
