15.12 Enabling Lost Mode

When a corporate device is lost or stolen, to secure information on the device, you can enable lost mode on it, which will lock down the entire device. This feature is supported on supervised iOS devices (version 9.3 and newer devices) that are enrolled as fully managed devices. The difference between the Lock Device quick task and Lost Mode quick task is that when Lock Device is enabled, the users can themselves unlock their phones using the passcode set for the phone, whereas when Lost Mode is enabled, the devices cannot be used until the ZENworks administrator unlocks the devices.

The Lost Mode can be disabled on the device by initiating the Disable Lost Mode quick task in ZCC, which will unlock the device. Alternatively, you can also use Apple Configurator to reset the device.

Further, when Lost Mode is enabled on the device, you can use the Geolocation feature in ZENworks to identify the location of an iOS device. The location can be identified even if the location services is disabled on the device. For more information, see Locating a Device.

NOTE:Lost mode can also be enabled by the end user through iCloud. If Lost Mode is enabled through iCloud, the user can unlock the device by using the password specified while enabling lost mode. However, if Lost Mode is enabled using ZENworks, then only the administrator can unlock the device.

On 10.x devices, both the iCloud Lost Mode and ZENworks Lost Mode can co-exist for the same device. If both the lost modes are enabled for the same device, then the message provided while enabling ZENworks lost mode is displayed on the device. When one of the lost modes is disabled, then the other lost mode takes control of the device.

For example,if iCloud Lost Mode was applied initially and then the ZENworks Lost Mode is enabled on the same device: ZENworks Lost Mode takes precedence and the message configured while enabling ZENworks Lost Mode is displayed on the device. When you disable ZENworks Lost Mode, the device returns to the iCloud Lost Mode state and the message configured while enabling iCloud Lost Mode is displayed on the device.

However, if on a 9.x device, Lost Mode is enabled using both iCloud and ZENworks, then based on which Lost Mode is set first, the related Lost Mode will apply:

  • iCloud Lost Mode was applied initially and then the ZENworks Lost Mode: The device responds with an error and ZENworks Lost Mode is not enabled on the device.

  • ZENworks Lost Mode was applied initially and then iCloud Lost Mode was set by the end user: In this case, the Lost Mode set by ZENworks will be overridden. The end user can unlock the device using the password set while enabling Lost Mode in iCloud. You will also not be able to identify the location of the device using ZENworks. When the iCloud lost mode is disabled, the device returns to the Lost Mode state set by ZENworks.

If the user restarts an iOS device, which is set in Lost Mode, iClould Keychain is encrypted and locked and the device cannot connect to the Wi-Fi network. Hence, the ZENworks server will not be able to contact the device when the Disable Lost Mode quick task is executed. In this case, you can factory reset the device by using Apple Configurator, which will lead to data loss. If you do not want to remove the data from the device, then you can refer to a few forums that have indicated that some users were successful in clearing the passcode set on the device by using Ethernet connectivity to connect to an iOS device.

15.12.1 Procedure

  1. In ZENworks Control Center, click Devices > Mobile Devices to display your enrolled mobile devices.

  2. Select the iOS device, click Quick Tasks > Enable Lost Mode to display the Enable Lost Mode dialog box.

  3. Specify the following information that will be displayed on the lock screen of the device as soon as the Lost Mode is enabled:

    • Recovery message: Information on how to return the device.

    • Phone number: The call back phone number of the device owner.

      NOTE:Both fields are mandatory. However, to proceed you can specify a value in any one of the fields.

    • Footnote: Additional information required to be displayed on the device.

  4. Click Next to display the quick task options.

  5. Use the appropriate quick task options and click Start to lock the device.

  6. Click Hide to close the quick task, after the quick task is initiated.

    When the quick task is applied successfully on the device, the device’s information page in ZCC will clearly indicate that lost mode is enabled.