Smartphone Thieves No Match for Security Technology
Posted on: Friday, 3 July 2009, 14:05 CDT
Thieves in New York are predominantly seeking to steal iPhones and other smartphones, but such devices offer users a suite of applications that allow them to protect their mobile devices."When we have seen spikes in thefts, a significant portion has to do with ... highly desirable products," police spokesman Paul Browne told Reuters on Thursday.
"In the last couple of years it's been iPods, Sidekicks, iPhones."
But victims are fighting back with technology. There is a range of applications aimed at allowing smartphone owners to retrieve their stolen devices.
Apple offers a service called “Find My iPhone”, which allows victims to locate their stolen device as well as erase critical data such as e-mail, bank information and passwords from the hard drive.
Reuters reported of one blogger that used the Find My iPhone service to track his stolen iPhone . Once he located the device, the thief returned it with a handshake.
Another feature from Indian firm Maverick Mobile Solutions allows users to set off a loud siren on the phone to indicate that the device has been stolen. The service also enables users to send a text message to the thief.
City Councilman Peter Vallone told Reuters that smartphone theft represents the threat of possible identity theft even more than the loss of the device itself.
"It's bad enough losing your phone and that's all it was a few years ago," Vallone said. "Nowadays, if you lose your phone, you can very quickly lose your identity."
Users of iPhones and other smartphones regularly store personal information on the gadgets, which can make the value of a stolen device seem priceless.
"The damage would be extensive," Joshua Deutch, 32, a freelance IT consultant, told Reuters.
Deutch added that he would “not think twice” about “bricking” his iPhone, making it useless to thieves while eliminating crucial data from the hard drive.
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Source: redOrbit staff
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