Imagine you take your iPhone out of your pocket or purse and discover it is locked. You also find a message asking for you wire $100 to a hacker to unlock it. It is reportedly happening around the world. Most of the attacks have been concentrated in Australia, but a few reports have came in from the U.K. All of the mysterious locks have been on Apple iPhones and iPads. Apple has not released a statement on the issue.
Likely the attack vector is that the hacker has obtained user’s credentials for their Apple account then logs into Find My iPhone and remotely locks the device. This is a safety feature built into all iPhones and iPads to track or lock missing devices. This is another good reason for good password management which we cover here.
Another good preventative measure is to add a pass code to your Apple device. This will allow you to bypass the lock if it were remotely locked. Is is an easy process. Go to the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Access the Passcode option which is typically in the third group of settings. Just be sure to remember your pass code. The remedy if you every forget your pass code is to wipe the phone to factory settings.