Remote Wipe issue

[alias99]

Hello All

Earlier today I got a notification on outlook on my Mac that a remote wipe had been completed on my iPhone.

I thought it was a scam email however when I looked at my iPhone 12 it had been wiped to factory settings. I have no idea how this has happened.

However now I cannot find my iOS backup file on my Mac nor in iCloud, they have both disappeared.

Is there anyway to get this file back? I don't have time machine active and as I had it in the cloud as well I didn't really bother.

Please can someone help me with this

 

[hg.wells]

If it’s not there you maybe stuck. I would also be concerned that your iPhone was remote wiped. I would recommend changing your Apple ID password, if someone has access to your account they could potentially remote wipe your Mac.

 

[alias99]

If it’s not there you maybe stuck. I would also be concerned that your iPhone was remote wiped. I would recommend changing your Apple ID password, if someone has access to your account they could potentially remote wipe your Mac.

Thanks for the reply, it seems like it was done through outlook from an admin. Apple ID is secure from what I can see and I have 2 factor authentication and got no alert.

 

[hg.wells]

Thanks for the reply, it seems like it was done through outlook from an admin. Apple ID is secure from what I can see and I have 2 factor authentication and got no alert.

Ah is it a work phone then not personal?

 

[Samdh90]

Since you stated it was an admin. By chance, did you have a work email setup with Exchange on your phone? If so, the Exchange administrator can remote wipe an iphone.

 

[BigBlur]

The Exchange admins could have also put a policy on your phone to enforce a passcode, and wipe the device if it has been entered incorrectly too many times.

My company used to do this (device-level wipe). They have since changed it to be a "wipe data" or "account only" wipe, where it'll wipe only your account/data from the Outlook/O365 apps. If you are using a phone issued by your employer, you may not have much say in this. Otherwise, perhaps see if they are willing/able to do the "wipe data" or "account only" wipes for personal phones.

As for your backups, they should still be on your Mac (assuming you have done a manual backup before), or in iCloud if you had it enabled. They (Exchange admins) have no control over these.

 

[alias99]

Since you stated it was an admin. By chance, did you have a work email setup with Exchange on your phone? If so, the Exchange administrator can remote wipe an iphone.

It was a work email that was setup on my personal phone hence the additional issues it caused me. I don't understand how an email admin can have the control to do that.

The Exchange admins could have also put a policy on your phone to enforce a passcode, and wipe the device if it has been entered incorrectly too many times.

My company used to do this (device-level wipe). They have since changed it to be a "wipe data" or "account only" wipe, where it'll wipe only your account/data from the Outlook/O365 apps. If you are using a phone issued by your employer, you may not have much say in this. Otherwise, perhaps see if they are willing/able to do the "wipe data" or "account only" wipes for personal phones.

As for your backups, they should still be on your Mac (assuming you have done a manual backup before), or in iCloud if you had it enabled. They (Exchange admins) have no control over these.

The strange thing is, I had a backup on my Mac and in iCloud but when I tried to setup the phone again (after it had been wiped) both of those backups went missing and created ones with the same name as a new phone without my data. Safe to say its taken me hours to get most of it back.

Luckily I had WhatsApp, photos, contacts etc all backed up in iCloud individually, but I've had to redownload every app etc

 

[Samdh90]

It was a work email that was setup on my personal phone hence the additional issues it caused me. I don't understand how an email admin can have the control to do that.



The strange thing is, I had a backup on my Mac and in iCloud but when I tried to setup the phone again (after it had been wiped) both of those backups went missing and created ones with the same name as a new phone without my data. Safe to say its taken me hours to get most of it back.

Luckily I had WhatsApp, photos, contacts etc all backed up in iCloud individually, but I've had to redownload every app etc

It is a safeguard feature in Microsoft's Exchange server. Lets say that your phone was stolen and there is critical data stored on your phone. The Exchange admin can wipe the phone to secure company data. I was told my phone could be wiped remotely by my boss for the same reason.

Unfortunately, this is not to help the user per say, it is to ensure data integrity for the company.