- Locating Your iPhone/iPad with MobileMe
- Password-Protecting Your iPhone or iPad
- Additional Security for Corporate iPhone and iPad Users
- Protecting Your Hardware Investment
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Password-Protecting Your iPhone or iPad
Another free and easy option to protect your iPhone/iPad is to activate the Password Protection feature built into the device. If you happen to lose your iPhone or iPad, or it gets stolen, you'll know that your sensitive data is password-protected. To set up this feature, access the device's Home screen and then tap on the Settings icon. Tap on the General option, and then tap on the Passcode Lock feature to turn it on (see Figure 1).
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Figure 1 The Passcode Lock screen on the iPhone 4 (running iOS 4.2).
Tap on the Turn Passcode On icon at the top of the Passcode Lock screen to activate this feature. You must then create a four-digit passcode, using the numeric keypad that's displayed on the screen. When setting up this code for the first time, you'll need to reenter it the code to verify it.
Once the Passcode feature is activated, you can customize it by adjusting the options on the Passcode Lock screen:
- To change the passcode, tap on the Change Passcode icon.
- Tap on the Require Passcode icon to specify when the passcode must be entered to gain full access to your iPhone or iPad.
- Select the Erase Data option at the bottom of the Password Lock screen to delete all of your data from the iPhone automatically if someone enters the passcode incorrectly 10 times. This option protects your sensitive data if your iPhone is hacked.
Now that the Passcode feature is activated, when anyone turns on your iPhone or iPad, the Enter Passcode screen will appear (see Figure 2), requiring the correct four-digit code to be entered before the Apple mobile device will unlock.
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Figure 2 The Enter Passcode screen on the iPhone 4 (running iOS 4.2).
The App Store offers a handful of specialized security-related apps you can purchase or download, designed to manage and protect important data such as passwords, credit card numbers, and online banking information. Each of these optional password managers allows you to create a secure database for a wide range of confidential information that you'd typically store on your iPhone or iPad, including passwords for websites you frequent:
- mSecure for iOS ($4.99)
- SplashID ($9.99)
- eWallet ($9.99)
- Memengo Wallet ($4.99)