iCloud unlocking goes mainstream, Apple turns a blind eye

Any chance of a tl;dw synopsis?

The video takes a long time to say this:

There's a new (and concerning) service known as "Plist FMI off" which appears to be able to unlock an iPhone that would otherwise be locked and useless to thieves.

Disabling iCloud lock / Find My iPhone lock should be something only possible by someone working from inside Apple -- thus implying that there's likely an insider involved in this. Or at the very least, a security flaw in Apple's network that's allowing this to happen.

The Youtuber seems to think that Apple should be forthcoming about declaring this vulnerability exists. IMHO, he is wrong to think that. Declaring the flaw before it's been patched would only create a rash of iPhone thefts.

Ideally, Apple is now aware of this situation, and is doing internal investigations to correct it.
- But to get to the point that the vulnerability is now being used as a service, doesn't that mean it's been there for a while?(I think he mentions that there's another company that did a bunch of research on the service and the vulnerability for a long time), and if Apple hasn't given any attention to this major security problem how else will they get pressured into working on a fix? Idk, for me it's the best way forward given their lack of attention to the problem so far. Also, if I'm not mistaken, it falls in line with a "common practice" that some security researches do, which is to warn the company of the problem, and if they don't act on it after a certain amount of time, they disclose it to the public so there's pressure for a fix.
- Many thanks!
- I wouldn’t say an insider is necessary for this to be possible. No software is perfect and there’s a big market for iPhone exploits and plenty of hackers trying to find them.
  
  Hopefully this can be patched in iOS 17 or ideally sooner. Worst case is this uses some form of hardware flaw that can’t be patched.
Good question. I will always and forever downvote random links to YouTube videos!

I was under the impression that organised thieves had software that could reset stolen Iphones - otherwise why would they steal them? Is this exploit new?

If you steal an iPhone and forget to ask the victim for a PIN at knifepoint, you can still sell it bricked for parts. Search for locked iPhones on eBay, they go for $100 to $200.
- Does that mean the serialisation of parts isn't particularly effective at reducing thefts? I've been wondering about this as some say it is effective and others say it isn't 🤔.

Thanks for this information. This is one of the reasons I bought an iPhone… sucks