Man gets locked out of his Apple iPad until 2067
To keep its iOS devices secure, every time an incorrect passcode is entered on an iPhone or iPad, the device remains locked for an increasing amount of time. Now if you have a toddler who likes to continuously tap on the glass screen of an Apple iPad, well you can just imagine what might occur. And for one Evan Osnos, the nightmare scenario became reality when his three-year old locked him out of his tablet for 25,536,442 minutes.
Osnos, who shared the story and an image of his iPad screen via a tweet, is unable to access his tablet for approximately 48 and half years. That means that Evan has to wait until October 2067 to punch in his passcode and open up his tablet, if he can even remember his passcode at that time.
Here's how it works. After six incorrect attempts to enter a passcode, an iOS device locks down and prevents any more attempts to enter the correct code. This is because iOS sees this as an attempt by a hacker to break into the device (known as a brute force attack). After six attempts, the number of minutes that the devics is locked continues to rise. Depending on the settings, after 10 incorrect attempts, the iPhone or iPad will automatically wipe all stored data.
But luckily enough for Mr. Osnos, this is a scenario that Apple has seen before and it does have a solution. If he hooks up his iPad to a computer and connects to iTunes, the tablet can be restored. This replaces the data that was wiped with a file of backed up data. This is a good reason why you should backup your data often, especially if you have a curious toddler in your home.
Evan Osnos get locked out of his Apple iPad for over 48 years
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