26 iPad2's - Security(?)

[Nicolaib]

Hello

I work with the daily maintenance of IT on a school, and we've got 26 16GB iPad2's for the first to third graders.

Usually it works the way that they are divided into two boxes in which the teachers can book for each lessons. And before the lesson begins, they can come pick up the boxes at our office. It has worked great so far, but with more ipads being bought, we need to upgrade the security.

The plan that we have worked out so far is as following:

We will put a password on all the ipads in which only the students and teachers knows. So that noone outside the school will be able to access the ipads.
We will install the FindMyiPhone application on all the ipads, so that if one of them is stolen, we can track its location which seems smart enough if the ipads are stolen during the night cause whoever takes the ipads wont be able to access them and disable findmyiphone. But if it on the other hand is a student who decides to take one of the ipads, they can just type in the password to gain access to the ipad, and disable findmyiphone.

We're really looking for an alternative to cover all the security lacks here. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[thewitt]

If someone steals the iPad, it will be gone. They can power it off, it won't be connected to wifi, and they will simply initialize it and wipe it clean.

You should look into the carts made specifically for managing large numbers of iPads in schools.

 

[scifan57]

If someone steals the iPad, it will be gone. They can power it off, it won't be connected to wifi, and they will simply initialize it and wipe it clean.

You should look into the carts made specifically for managing large numbers of iPads in schools.

If an iPad was stolen and reported to the police and Apple,wouldn't Apple be able to tell when that stolen iPad was initiated by someone else?

 

[PadMan2]

seeings how each ipad has it's own serial number I would think so.

 

[followthesapper]

There is an app called iHound Tracker. They can provide a Geofencing service (I think you pay for it I'm not sure), but it can alert you when the iPad leaves the school. That's assuming the pupils don't take them home.

 

[yous84]

I couldn't find that app ??

 

[yous84]

Is it called exact name ?

 

[followthesapper]

It is on the UK store as

iHound by SafetyWeb Tracker and Geofence​

 

[yous84]

Thanks dude

 

[twerppoet]

If an iPad was stolen and reported to the police and Apple,wouldn't Apple be able to tell when that stolen iPad was initiated by someone else?

I don't think so. There is no reason for Apple to collect serial numbers for initialization. They only need the iPad's hardware and firmware versions. Both could be easily obtained by iTunes and the Apple servers without the added complication of cross-referencing the serial number. More importantly, there is no technical reason for them to maintain records every iOS initialization.

If a person were to then register/associate the iPad with an iTunes or iCloud account, that would probably associate the serial number if only indirectly through the UUID. Even then, Apple may have no direct and easy way set up to make that association. Even a hint that they had such software and procedures in place would probably make the privacy watchdogs all itchy and bothered.

At any rate, Apple would only release that kind of information at the request of the Police, probably requiring a warrant or some other official paper work. Anything else would open them to a multitude of possible legal complications and law suites.

 

[PadMan2]

I don't think so. There is no reason for Apple to collect serial numbers for initialization. They only need the iPad's hardware and firmware versions. Both could be easily obtained by iTunes and the Apple servers without the added complication of cross-referencing the serial number. More importantly, there is no technical reason for them to maintain records every iOS initialization.

If a person were to then register/associate the iPad with an iTunes or iCloud account, that would probably associate the serial number if only indirectly through the UUID. Even then, Apple may have no direct and easy way set up to make that association. Even a hint that they had such software and procedures in place would probably make the privacy watchdogs all itchy and bothered.

At any rate, Apple would only release that kind of information at the request of the Police, probably requiring a warrant or some other official paper work. Anything else would open them to a multitude of possible legal complications and law suites.

You make some good points but I had a problem once with itunes and my Ipad so I did call them. They would not even talk to me until I gave them the serial number on my Ipad, I asked why he would need it, He wanted to make sure it belong to me the owner. But to be fair with your comment I would suppose if someone stole a ipad they would not be stupid enough to call Itunes or apple. There is a gray fine line between Security and eves dropping.

 

[twerppoet]

I don't know about the stolen angle, but all tech support and repair requests are linked to serial numbers. If for no other reason than because it allows them to track warrantees. It also, probably, gives them the ability to link failures (rates and types) to the manufacturing plant, assembly line, and component batches. A useful tool for tracking quality control issues.

 

[thewitt]

If an iPad was stolen and reported to the police and Apple,wouldn't Apple be able to tell when that stolen iPad was initiated by someone else?

They probably can, but they don't...

 

[Kaykaykay]

Apple hasn't been especially helpful when customer iPads have been stolen. But when a bunch of iPads were stolen from an Apple store, there were reports on tech blogs that Apple blocked them all. To me, that indicates that Apple has the ability, but not the inclination, whatever its reasons might be.

 

[City]

If you give the child a password to the iPad2, he/she could possibly share it with someone, allowing the word to spread. In Settings, there is an option where you can hook up the iPad to the iTunes computer, so then you can track where it is from your computer, instead of having to download an app. Although, it'd be smart to download the app, for an alternate resource.