Pair-Lock Your iPhone to Prevent Anyone From Dumping Your Data

Forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski recommends pair-locking your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to prevent anyone from dumping your private data, installing malicious applications, or doing anything else to it.

Apple's Configurator application, which was just updated, can be used to lock down your device and prevent other devices from pairing with it. Even if you leave your iPhone unlocked or are forced to provide the pin or a fingerprint, forensic tools will not be able to communicate with it, says Zdziarski.

When a device is unwilling to create a new pairing session with a desktop machine, nothing can talk to it through its proper interfaces – not forensics tools, not iMobileDevice tools, nothing. And that means unless you have a really old phone with a hardware exploit, there’s no way they’ll be able to dump data from it. In order for them to get at your data, they’d have to steal the pairing record that your own personal desktop has created for the device; if you're smart enough to be reading this, you’re likely smart enough to also encrypt your hard drive. On a Mac, you’ll find a copy of your pairing record in /var/db/lockdown. Guard it well.


Zdziarski details the process for pair-locking your device at the link below. With the launch of the iPhone 5s and its fingerprint sensor there has been an increased focus on the security of iOS devices. This is one simple step you can take to help secure your device and limit unauthorized access of your data.

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