Why the iPhone 5s Will Be the Most Secure Smartphone on the Market

Why the iPhone 5s Will Be the Most Secure Smartphone on the Market

There's a reason why the iPhone 5s will be the most secure smartphone on the market, and it's not just because of the new fingerprint sensor.

Earlier this week, Apple announced the iPhone 5s, which comes with a new security feature. Now, instead of having to enter in a passcode every time you want to unlock your phone, you can just hold your finger on the Home button to do so. A new fingerprint sensor underneath the Home button can detect your unique fingerprint and unlock the phone, as well as approve purchases from iTunes, the App Store and the iBooks Store, so you won't have to enter your iTunes password account as well. 

The fingerprint sensor has 360-degree readability, and Apple says that it will recognize your finger from any orientation you put it on. The new Touch ID feature lets you register multiple fingerprints on a single iPhone too, so the people you trust and also use your iPhone.

If you're worried about the security risks, Apple says that an image of your fingerprint is not actually being stored on the device. Instead, the new feature takes highlights from your fingerprint and stores them as a template. This template is then encrypted and stored on the iPhone hardware, what Apple calls the Secure Enclave on the new A7 chip, and never shared, even to Apple's own servers - it exists only on your iPhone. 

According to Citeworld, the new fingerprint sensor scans for the living layer of skin under the surface of your finger, and it only works on a live finger, not one that's been severed, or from faked fingers.

The fingerprint sensor and Touch ID isn't the only reason why the iPhone 5s will be the most secure smartphone. The other reason is that it ships with iOS 7, which comes with new security features for Find My iPhone.

Previously, you could use the Find My iPhone feature to find your missing iPhone and track where it's been. You could also lock your device remotely and send the iPhone a message which could be seen from the Lock screen. iOS 7 comes with new features which make it harder for anyone who steals your iPhone to use or sell it.

To turn off Find My iPhone or to erase the stolen device now requires your Apple ID and password. If you're worried your iPhone could be compromised, you can remotely wipe your data off the iPhone, but continue to have a custom message displayed. And your Apple ID and password will be needed to reactivate the phone. If you do manage to get your iPhone back, you can always restore it from your iCloud backup.

The iPhone 5s will go on sale in Singapore on September 20th, while iOS 7 will be available for download on September 18th.