Have you lost your phone? Was it stolen?

[paya]

You might have seen this going around your Facebooks and other social media. I think it contains some very valuable advice that might be useful to other members here.

 

 

[Zombie]

Good advice. The other concern is just how secure are smart phones - there's a whole security industry out there feeding off PC and laptop users. What about viruses, worms, spyware and all the other crap - are phones at risk and, if so, what should be done?

[Arpeggio]

I work at T-mobile, and I get it a hundred times when I offer insurance on a new phone purchase. They say "Well, I'm very careful with my phone, and the deductible isn't worth it." and then for every one of those calls, I'm getting a call from someone who had their phone lost or had it stolen asking what I can do for them..... Or worse, a broken phone with no insurance, and they ask for me to exchange it, but warranties do not cover physical or liquid damage. My only option for them is to purchase a new phone outright, and that's like pulling teeth for some people. 

 

Even without insurance, it's good to call the carrier because they can suspend the line and block the device through its IMEI number so whoever finds or stole it won't be able to use either. 

Edited April 24, 2013 by Arpeggio

[iSimba]

Good advice. The other concern is just how secure are smart phones - there's a whole security industry out there feeding off PC and laptop users. What about viruses, worms, spyware and all the other crap - are phones at risk and, if so, what should be done?

 

The general consensus is that iOS devices are very secure and android phones are not.

 

iOS is secure for a multitude of reasons:

• Flash is either disabled or not installed in the first place (not sure which exactly)
• All apps run in their own "sandbox" - i.e. if flashlight app #27 has a virus in it, it can't spread to the rest of the phone
• Viruses are almost, if not completely nonexistent for non-jailbroken iPhones. You can look it up

Android is a whole other story. They have their own antivirus and a lot of stuff can be dangerous. But of course if you're careful and you do routine maintenance you should be fine.

Edited April 24, 2013 by iSimba

[Zombie]

Thanks iSimba

[Gene Splicer PHD]

My iPhone and iPad are both tied to my server, kinda like iCloud but corporate. I lost my iPad for a night - thought it got stolen but was just misplaced because that's how I roll. 

 

Anyway I used the "remote wipe" feature from my server. The iPad booted up and immediately went into "right out of the box" mode. If it had been stolen, they'd have had a brand new iPad with nothing on it. The iPhone has the same ability. My laptop does too, using a service called "prey". If the laptop doesn't check in every so often, I can remotely nuke it. 

 

Every phone, every smart device, should have this ability.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Gene Splicer PHD

[paya]

My iPhone and iPad are both tied to my server, kinda like iCloud but corporate. I lost my iPad for a night - thought it got stolen but was just misplaced because that's how I roll. 

 

Anyway I used the "remote wipe" feature from my server. The iPad booted up and immediately went into "right out of the box" mode. If it had been stolen, they'd have had a brand new iPad with nothing on it. The iPhone has the same ability. My laptop does too, using a service called "prey". If the laptop doesn't check in every so often, I can remotely nuke it. 

 

Every phone, every smart device, should have this ability.

 

Could you give links to the programmes you use? 

[hh5]

It sounds like there's a good possibility of never seeing your gadget ever again or if its cyber-ly broken into the contents could be copied or tracked

 

on anderson live the guest host lost their device .... it even has a name n phone number etched on the device 

and the person is so worried of not ever seeing their gadget again

 

there are so many ways 600 dollar device can disappear or cost you more than what you paid for

 

lol, only the gadget masters know truly if yer pi is secure ... and if not ... its the app store thats happy to see u  an app

i believe apple had a wiping program that is activated via itunes ... its only used against illegal or stolen apps

jobs already dreamed up apps to protect your pi ... but its best that they add a feature to kill the device and sell insurance and the cloud

the combination of three should keep your pi safe and keep u using their device

while preventing the criminals from reselling stolen property

 

I hope they keep the cloud secure ... otherwise it be a gold mine of pi if it where to be hacked

Edited April 25, 2013 by hh5

[Gene Splicer PHD]

Could you give links to the programmes you use? 

 

You can get Prey here: http://preyproject.com/

 

My iPad and iphone are running mail accounts hosted on my Exchange server, which has the remote-wipe capability, so it's done through my business account.

 

If you're running icloud on an iphone or ipad, it has the same capability, but only if you're hosting the email through iCloud: http://support.apple.com/kb/ph2701.