Random Passcode Lock

[Paul Menig]

I have a disturbing and perplexing problem. My iPad randomly asks for a 4 digit passcode which i have neither entered or enabled. This first started occurring just after Christmas. It can take a few hours or a whole week before going into this mode. The only thing that gets me out of it is to do a restore to factory settings--while it works, it is a pain to get everything back and running the way I want. Last weekend, I went to the Genius bar. They had no special tools to probe my device. They thought it was/is software, but were kind enough to give me a replacement iPad (I have had the original since day one last April). I have had the passcode screen come up 4-5 times in the last week. I have been systematically reducing the number of applications I load onto the device to try to determine what application might be causing the problem. Today, I loaded iBooks, the Wall Street Journal and a few other applications, but these two are the only ones I used since the last restore to factory settings. The only e-mail account I set up this time around was my Mobile Me account. I did set up the find my iPad. I am beginning to wonder if something is amiss with the find my iPad. But, my iPhone 4 is working just fine with the feature enabled on it. Finally, I am beginning to wonder if something in iTunes is repeatedly putting something on my iPad, even though I am restoring to factory settings. I am beginning to think this might be some type of virus. Any thoughts?

[Paul Menig]

I've been trying to load fewer applications each time this happens, sometimes varying which ones are loaded. I have narrowed it down to focus on Citrix as the potential application causing problems. My hypothesis is that when connected with work, our IT department has things set up so that it disables the iPad in case it thinks the iPad has been stolen. While the iPad is set up to just be a terminal, with nothing on it, I suspect that if left connected for too long, something happens. This is not a perfect hypothesis, as the last time the password showed up, it did not show up until I connected to my iMac to sync. I have been unable to contact my IT department in the last two days to explore this idea.