Mobile phone theft countermeasure

A UK firm is hoping a cell phones security system it has developed which sets off a high pitch scream, permanently locks the handset and wipes all data if stolen, will halt the spiraling rise in phone theft.

The Remote XT technology, designed to make phones unusable, and therefore worthless if they are stolen, works by installing software onto the operating system of the phone which is then activated via a call to a call center once users realize their phone has been snatched or lost.

From Reuters, via Boston.com. Clever as this is, at 120 pounds per year I don't know how much demand there will be outside of places where phone theft is a serious problem -- like the UK:

According to the latest UK government statistics, mobile phone theft has risen 190 per cent in recent years, with one third of all UK robberies now solely involving mobile phones.

Insurer Halifax estimates a mobile handset is stolen every 12 seconds in Britain costing UK consumers around 390 million pounds ($735 million) every year.

And where phone theft has become such an industry, those in the industry will quickly learn how to cope -- which apparently would entail nothing more than pulling the battery until the phone can be reflashed with new firmware.

Posted by David on October 3, 2006 11:25 AM