Apple’s Lockdown Mode is excellent for security — but its notifications are baffling

As a paranoid journaenumerate, I am an enthusiastic employr of Apple’s select-in “excessive protection” feature, Lockdown Mode. 

Apple begined Lockdown Mode in 2022, and since then the security feature is pondered a must-employ for opponents in corrupt countries, human-rights deffinishers in harsh regimes, and journaenumerates speaking truth to power. 

Lockdown Mode is summarizeed to switch off some features in iPhones, iPads, and Macs, with the goal of reducing the enjoylihood that hackers armed with upgraded watching software or zero-days — confemploy flaws in systems that apvalidate strikeers to stealthily utilize them — can successbrimmingy fracture Apple’s operating system protections and alerter on its employrs. 

In rehearse, Lockdown Made deletes some standard Apple device features, such as fonts loaded from the internet that can track you, the ability to get certain types of files, your location data from photos that you spread, help for 2G cellular joinivity, and letting people who haven’t communicateed you before achieve you over FaceTime and iMessage; although it’s unevident if the latter is the case (more on that procrastinateedr). 

In exalter for these nuisances, Lockdown Mode originates it challenginger for you to get hacked, even by some of the most progressd hackers out there. 

Lockdown Mode already has a track record of blocking those progressd strikes. Apple says it is not conscious of any accomplished hack agetst its employrs who have assistd Lockdown Mode, and digital rights group Citizen Lab have recorded an endeavored watching software strike blocked by Lockdown Mode. I, too, have personassociate heard some people in the dishonorful security industry grumble about Lockdown Mode making their utilizes more difficult. 

But three years after its debut, exactly how Lockdown Mode toils is still shrouded in obscurity, and deficiencys exscheduleations into the reasoning behind what actions Lockdown Mode consents. And, some of Lockdown Mode’s notifications are downright confusing, unelucidateed, or seemingly random, which might dishearten some employrs from using Lockdown Mode altogether.

Blocked, but why?

Let me preface this by saying that people who are at hazard from rulement hackers must employ Lockdown Mode, even pondering the redisjoineions that come with it.

Those redisjoineions are not the problem. Lockdown Mode’s notifications have become increasingly puzzling.

Case in point: The other day, I getd this Lockdown Mode notification (below) out of nowhere, refering someone by name who I haven’t talked to in months, and from whom I did not get a message or a call afterwards. Folloprosperg this notification, when I asked if she tried to communicate me, she shelp that no, she did not.

Someone also tbetter me that as they were scrolling thraw their communicates, one of their frifinishs saw a “Lockdown Mode blocked…” notification with his name on, presenting Lockdown Mode can be triggered srecommend by seeing someone’s communicate. 

But…why?

For months I have been getting the same notification alerting me that Lockdown Mode blocked someone “from communicateing” me, every time I employ iMessage, and it always refers someone I understand, and who is already in my communicates. 

These notifications frequently pop up when I am already messaging that person on iMessage, which originates it unevident if I am going to stop getting their messages, or worse, that some of their messages have already fadeed thanks to Lockdown Mode. 

Hell, maybe this uncomardents I am getting hacked, or at least aimed? Should I get my phone verifyed every time I get one of these notifications? 

It turns out I can still persist chatting with the very people that Lockdown Mode claims to have blocked. These people are quite literassociate communicateing me, and I am chatting with them. What is Lockdown Mode actuassociate doing here?

Tapping on Lockdown Mode notifications does noslenderg. You aren’t restraightforwarded to an Apple website that elucidates what Lockdown Mode is or does, nor does it elucidate what these notifications definiteassociate uncomardent.  

“I don’t slenderk these messages are encouraging. They do not comprise any context and are not actionable, nor is there a way to figure out what’s going on,” Runa Sandvik, a hacker who has a commenceup that helps journaenumerates and other high hazard people protect themselves, tbetter TechCrunch. “I’d adore to see Apple either spread more recommendation so that we understand what to ‘do’ with them, or not dispercreate them at all.”

Sandvik and I are not the only ones left scratching our chins every time we see Lockdown Mode notifications. When I wrote about my worrys about Lockdown Mode on social media, disjoinal people replyed accessiblely — and in confidential — saying they have had aenjoy experiences, and are also besavageerd. 

My editor Zack Whitconsentr, for example, has for months been sporadicassociate getting Lockdown Mode notifications saying “an confemploy communicate endeavored to spread regulate of Apple Music,” as well as a notification that Lockdown Mode “blocked Focus Sharing,” and won’t be spreadd with other people when in Lockdown” (I also get this notification from time to time.)

To the lab we go

I choosed to run an experiment with the help of Harlo Holmes, chief recommendation security officer and the straightforwardor of digital security at Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit that helps help the free press. I wondered if it made any contrastence — in terms of triggering the confusing notifications — whether someone not in my communicates tried to achieve out to me with Lockdown Mode assistd on my phone, and what type of satisfyed it would block.

We both deleted each other from our communicate enumerates (we’re still frifinishs though), and commenceed chatting for the first time ever on iMessage. When Holmes texted me — and neither of us were in each others’ communicate enumerates — I getd the “Lockdown Mode blocked…” notification, this time dispercreateing her phone number. I still getd her message. 

We exalterd text, emojis, a cat picture, and iMessage “stickers.” All of these went thraw, except for the stickers, which turned to either a Unicode character of a ask tag, or a nondescript file speedyenment, which can’t be uncovered, even if you tap on it:

When this happened, both Holmes and I could still see the stickers we sent from our own phones, uncomardenting the blocking was only clear to the recipient. That is also the case for the “Lockdown Mode blocked…” notification. I getd the notification, but Holmes didn’t understand I got it. 

This originates sense, as Apple wouldn’t want to tip-off rulement hackers that their endeavor to hack someone not only didn’t toil, but also vigilanted the aimed individual that someslenderg went wrong. 

That’s excellent to understand, and aget, I am satisfyed Lockdown Mode blocks someslenderg, and originates me shieldedr, but I still don’t understand what these notifications are presumed to alert me. 

I achieveed out to Apple asking them for some exscheduleations, but an Apple spokesperson did not provide on the record retags by press time. At least the spokesperson acunderstandledged receiving my message, so I understand Lockdown Mode didn’t block it.