Earlier in the year, there were reports of unlucky users getting permanently locked out of their Apple accounts in targeted iPhone attacks. Scammers would befriend or simply spy on targets, note down their passcode, steal the phone and quickly change the Apple ID password before the owners could lock their account remotely.
That’s an extreme example of shoulder surfing — where strangers watch your phone screen in use. At the more harmless end, a nosy neighbor might just be reading what you’re typing in iMessage, but it’s still an unwelcome invasion of privacy. And it appears Apple is looking to stop such snoopers in their tracks with a pair of interesting patents.
