Android is rolling out a new set of theft protection updates focused on stopping unauthorized access, limiting damage after a device is stolen, and improving recovery. The changes build on existing protections and target a growing problem where phone theft often leads to financial fraud and data theft, not just loss of hardware.

Stolen phones can expose banking apps, saved passwords, and personal information within minutes if security is bypassed. Google says these updates are designed to make Android devices harder to unlock, harder to misuse, and easier to secure remotely.

Several of the new features apply to devices running Android 16 and later. One update expands control over Failed Authentication Lock. This feature, first introduced in Android 15, automatically locks the screen after too many failed unlock attempts. It now has a dedicated enable or disable toggle in settings, giving users direct control over how the feature works on their device.

Android is also expanding Identity Check. The feature, introduced in early 2025 for Android 15 and above, requires biometric authentication for sensitive actions when the user is outside trusted locations. Later in the year, Google extended Identity Check to all apps and features that use the Android Biometric Prompt. This means third-party banking apps and Google Password Manager now automatically require biometric verification under these conditions.

Protection against screen lock guessing is also being tightened. Android is increasing the lockout time after repeated failed PIN, pattern, or password attempts. To avoid accidental lockouts, repeated identical incorrect guesses no longer count toward the retry limit.

Recovery tools are getting updates as well. Remote Lock, which lets users lock a lost or stolen device through android.com/lock, now includes an optional security question or challenge. This step helps confirm that the person requesting the lock is the device owner. These recovery updates are available on devices running Android 10 and later.

In Brazil, Android is enabling theft protection by default on new devices. Theft Detection Lock and Remote Lock now turn on automatically during setup. Theft Detection Lock uses on-device AI to detect snatch-and-run thefts and quickly locks the screen.

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The post Android Strengthens Phone Theft Protection With Identity Check and Remote Lock appeared first on Gizmochina.

Apple Watch has been featured in news several times and most of them are related to good instances, like the smartwatch saving the life of a man who fell into an icy river or saving the life of a British cyclist caught in a flooded river. This time, the wearable device has found an alternative use case.

The Apple Watch was allegedly used by a crew of seven people to track down and rob a suspected drug dealer of over $500,000. The Department of Justice in the United States claims that the wearable device was used by the leader of the seven-people crew to track down the victim.

It adds that the group stuck the device on the dealer’s bumper and tracked him to Hartford, Connecticut. As per the reports, Darren Lindsay, a 30-year-old leader of the crew registered an Apple Watch to his AT&T plan. On July 18th, 2020, he, along with two collaborators, tailed the car to a hotel parking lot in Hartford, broke the window, and looked for drug money.

After not finding anything, the team left and then returned for an overnight stake-out. Prosecutors claim that the following day, they shoved the victim in an SUV, and punched him in the face until he handed over his hotel key card. Then, Indigo Grant allegedly smuggled a bag containing about $500,000 from the room, and they dropped the victim in the nearby town of New Britain.

Darren Lindsay then uploaded a private image of a massive pile of cash to his iCloud account while Antoine Koen, another member of the group, took a similar photo which also displayed his face in the frame.

Several pieces of evidence related to the robbery were revealed through the group member’s iCloud account, including toll records, text threads discussing the watch passcode and the stake-out, updates on whether the news had reported the robbery, divvying up the cash, among others.

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