How to Remotely Wipe a Phone
Your phone is missing, now what?
A missing phone can expose personal data. That data can include:
- Pictures and videos
- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and email
- Banking, tax, and health records
Company files may be reachable from the phone too, including confidential or classified customer data. Don't panic. Stay calm and follow a plan.
If the phone holds company data, or if it connects to company systems, notify your manager and the IT department.
They can follow company policy, limit account access, and start remote security steps.
The phone is worth less than the data on it. A thief will often reset the phone and pawn it. If the data is easy to open, they may use it too.
If DriveStrike is on the phone, immediately issue a Remote Wipe. Also note the location and contact the police.
The phone reports its location each time you request it. After the wipe arrives, the phone cannot be used and it stops reporting. You still get confirmation that the data is secure.
Then file a police report. The Device page in DriveStrike lists the serial number, make, and model. Tell the police the last place you had the phone, or the location on the Device page.
Change the password on all of your online accounts immediately. Start with the account tied to the browser you used most on that phone. That is often Google, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Internet Explorer.
This will not remove all risk. It will reduce it.
For information on remotely wiping specific phones visit the pages below:
- Remotely Wipe Android Phones and Tablets – This how to guide will walk you though how to wipe your Android phone remotely using DriveStrike.
- Remotely Wipe iPhone, iPad, iOS – This how to guide will walk you though how to wipe your iPhone remotely using DriveStrike.
If you did not have DriveStrike installed we are sorry to hear that your phone was stolen. Below are several things to consider as you move forward to protect your data on a phone that doesn't have DriveStrike installed.
1. Did you have a strong password on the phone and do you have user names and passwords saved in your internet browser on the phone?
If you didn't have a strong password and you answered yes to storing user names and passwords in your phone browser, immediately go and change the passwords for all of your accounts and implement two factor authentication wherever possible.
Reset browser accounts first. Start with the account tied to the browser you used most on that phone. That is often Google, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Internet Explorer.
This will not remove all risk. It will reduce it.
2. Do you have any information regarding the phone; make, model, serial number, IMEI, UUID, applications that were installed on the phone?
If you do not know the phone details, ask your cellular carrier. They have the serial number and IMEI.
The carrier can disable the phone so it cannot be used. That does not protect the data. In many cases the carrier can also send a firmware lock so the phone cannot be reused.
File a police report as soon as you can.
Note where the phone was taken and about what time.
If that place has cameras, take your police report and ask them to review the video. A clear image can help the police recover the phone.
The police usually will not do this search for you. If you bring them the footage, they are obligated to act on it.
Start checking local pawn shops near the location the phone was stolen.
Search craigslist and ebay for your make and model to see if the thief is selling your phone online.
3. Is there any confidential or sensitive information about customers, patients, or the company you work for on the phone?
If this is a company phone or if you access any company systems using this phone – immediately report the issue to your superior, the company IT and compliance teams.
If there is sensitive information about other people on the phone then you may have an obligation to report the stolen phone as a data breach depending on the security measures you implemented prior to the phone being stolen.
4. You should go to your Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, and other accounts for applications you commonly used on that phone
Open Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, and the other accounts you used on that phone.
Check whether the phone is still signed in. Also check whether the service saved a location for that session. You can give that location to the police.
Do not use it to confront a possible thief on your own.
Other steps depend on your answers above.
A remote wipe needs DriveStrike on the missing phone. That is very hard. It can still be possible if the person who has it installs DriveStrike under another name.
Please let us know if we can help you further, you can contact our help and support team any time.
DriveStrike is available for less than $1.00 per device per month when protecting multiple devices. Start a free trial.
About Spearstone
Spearstone won the 2008 Digital IQ award for IT security. It builds software for enterprise customers, including Wells Fargo, Pearson Learning, Logitech, Spacelabs, Sony, and RemedyMD.
Spearstone's DriveStrike product protects data on computers and smartphones. That includes remote wipe and mobile device management.
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