Android gets a ‘find my phone’ service from Google, for 2.2 and above.
Have you ever lost your phone in between the couch cushions or forgot it in a restaurant? Or maybe searching for your phone before you rush out the door is part of your morning routine? Later this month, the new Android Device Manager can help you out. It’s one of a few simple features you can use to keep your device – and the data you store inside – safe and secure.
About time.
I just use Avast! mobile security. I can text my phone and have set off a siren or whatever else…
Of course, my phone also has a (real) fingerprint scanner and is programmed with eight of my fingers…
A fingerprint scanner isn’t really going to stop someone with adb access from dumping your Rom and reflashing it.
Encrypted with an actual secure phrase and disabling usb debugging should keep my data safe at least long enough for me to change all the passwords in the password file and revoke the privileges on the phone.
The people stealing phones and such generally aren’t your sharpest tools in the shed.
If cell phone thieves aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed, they probably wouldn’t know what to do with any of your data anyways. Or you could just not use your cell phone for everything you do, assuming that’s the case.
Aside of getting personal notes, phone numbers to public figures, and miscellaneous non-explicit pics there isn’t much a cell phone thief is going to get from my cell phone. I don’t use cell phones for things where security actually matters — like banking for example. It’s just not wise in my opinion to have a trove of important and compromising information located in a single device that’s fairly easy to steal and hack.
Having some precautions makes a lot more sense than no precautions at all, or completely avoiding a technology because someone might steal it.
I assume you don’t use email at all on your phone, because any online banking password reset is rarely farther away than an email link and some commonly known knowledge about you (that’s in your txt messages I assume).
Just having your phone number and name will get them far if they call your bank.
It wouldn’t get them anywhere with my bank. Customer service wants your full name, address, DOB, answers to two secret questions and a password to access your account.
I don’t think you understand how mobile banking works. It’s the same as online banking. I’ve never heard of a banking app that stores your password for you. It’s just a somewhat more convenient way to access the online banking services. If you don’t trust it then you also don’t trust any ecommerce on the web.
Yes, I do understand how mobile banking works. Enough to the point that I’m aware it’s _not_ the same as online banking as you suggest. If anything it may actually be more secure. Further, to make the assumption that not trusting mobile banking means a person doesn’t trust any e-commerce is plain dumb. First, there are different degrees of security and different methods of securing data that are used in mobile vs. internet commerce. In some cases, mobile commerce may be more secure than using the internet. In other cases the opposite may be true. To imply that they are one in the same only shows a lack of understanding.
Next, I didn’t say I don’t trust mobile banking. I said it’s unwise to keep a trove of information in one location, especially when that is a single device that is easily stolen and hacked. It’s usually not a matter of one single thing. As a whole however, a persons cell phone may contain vast amounts of sensitive personal information. My phone isn’t one of them.
I’m not saying all this access & convenience is bad, I’m saying just be careful how you use it. Some people have their entire lives on their cell phone. Only a fool would think that’s a good idea.
It is, same security protocols being used. Same two factor authentication if your bank does that, etc.
In general the exact same techniques are being used. I’m sure you can find an exception but it’s not the norm.
You said: I don’t use cell phones for things where security actually matters — like banking for example.
Right, which seems to imply that you think mobile banking stores information on your device. If someone stole my device they would know which bank I use, nothing else.
Edited 2013-08-04 00:42 UTC
You’re misinterpreting what I’ve said. I’ve stated quite clearly what I think — that keeping a trove of sensitive personal information in one place is a bad idea. I didn’t allude to a mobile banking app, or any other app for that matter, doing this. I would hope it’s obvious that I’m referring to the owner of the cell phone. Leaving bread crumbs everywhere can add up, especially if all those bread crumbs are in one place or in one device. Do you disagree? I know a lot of people who do pretty much everything on their phone. Obtaining sensitive information from them is as easy as simply picking up their phone and trolling around in it.
Now, you said if someone got ahold of your phone, they would know what bank you use but nothing else. That may be true. It may also be true that you leave enough personal information in your phone that they could get a pretty detailed picture of who you are, where you are, what you do, etc. You may be one of those people whose cell phone is a central part of daily life. If that is the case, I would offer that you should reconsider that aspect.
Off topic soap box rant. An even safer bet is to simply leave the phone home when you’re out socializing with friends, dining or running errands. Too many people have a phone glued to their hand 24/7 and to me that represents a much bigger problem than cell phone theft. While people are out in public or supposedly spending time with friends or family, they’re not really where they are because they are engrossed in texting, social media or other time wasting, social skill sapping nonsense. I can’t tell you how tragic it is when I see two young people on a date at a restaurant and both of them are silent with their noses stuck to a smart phone screen most of the time.