As we have seen this week, the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has sparked mass civil unrest around the globe, particularly in the United States.
Yesterday we reported on Australian journalist Amelia Brace and her cameraman Tim Myers being attacked by a police officer while covering the protests in Washington D.C.
The unrest has also seen some instances of looting around the country.
Tech giant Apple has been the target of such behaviour, with stores in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia all attacked or damaged.
Apple moved quickly to remove all stock from shop floors to prevent further attacks, but not before a number of iPhones and other devices were taken.
However, it has since been revealed Apple’s security measures will prevent the use of any stolen devices.
Photos have emerged online of stolen iPhones displaying a message that reads: “This device has been disabled and is being tracked. Local authorities will be alerted”.
https://twitter.com/disposablefilms/status/1267111238313693185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1267111238313693185&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketwatch.com%2Fstory%2Fapple-is-reportedly-disabling-and-tracking-looted-iphones-2020-06-03
The device in the image is most likely a demo device.
Since 2016, Apple has been using special software on demo devices akin to a ‘kill switch’, where the device is disabled as soon as it goes out of range of the store Wi-Fi.
Apple confirmed to MarketWatch that demo devices taken illegally from stores display such messages.
