Apple Makes Security Changes to Protect Users From iPhone Thefts

Apple AAPL 0.79%increase; green up pointing triangle is addressing a security vulnerability that has allowed iPhone thieves to take over customers’ accounts, access saved passwords, steal money and lock people out of their digital memories.

A new iOS setting called Stolen Device Protection is designed to defend against these attacks. It is rolling out to beta testers starting Tuesday.

The Wall Street Journal reported on a nationwide spate of thefts where criminals used the iPhone passcode to break into victims’ accounts and upend their lives. Thieves in New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Minneapolis and other cities watch iPhone owners tap in their passcodes before stealing the targets’ devices.

The Journal’s reporting outlined for the first time how these thefts resulted in losses far beyond phones, and how Apple’s security settings gave victims few ways of preventing harm once their passcodes fell into the wrong hands. We have heard from hundreds of people over the past year whose iPhones and digital lives were stolen.