New anti-loss tools available
Because you regularly use your smartphones
when you’re out and about, there’s bound to be a time or two when you
accidently leave it behind or lose it. Fortunately, the combination of an always-available
Internet connection and built-in GPS provides the necessary communication
technologies you’ll need to track down a lost (or stolen) smartphone. We’ll
examine some of the different types of apps and services available to help you
find a lost smartphone.
Apps
The
app can help you find a lost iPhone
Many smartphones now come with a built-in
(or freely downloadable) manufacturers’ apps that can help you find a phone
when it’s lost. There are also third-party tools, such as Norton Mobile Security,
that offer advanced phone-locating services. Once you’ve installed a
smartphone-finding app, you’ll go to a computer and log into the app’s online
management website. From here, you’ll be able to see the current location of
your phone on an onscreen map.
Of course, just knowing the phone’s
location doesn’t always mean that it’ll be in plain sight; for all you know,
it’s stuck under a couch cushion. For this reason, most phone-finding apps
provide a ringing feature that will force the smartphone to briefly ring at the
loudest volume – even if the ringer is supposedly turned off. Norton Mobile
Security, for example, sets off a “scream” alarm. It also lets you display an
onscreen message, such as your address and contact information, so that a good
Samaritan will be able to return the device to you.
Dealing with thieves
The obvious problem with most phone-finding
apps is that your phone must be turned on and have an active data connection
for you to be able find it. Thieves know this, so one of the first things
they’ll do is turn off the phone. To combat this, many apps have a feature that
will send an email with the location noted when the service detects that your
smartphone has once again been turned on.
You
can log in to your Norton account and find your lost smartphone using a PC
The other thing a thief will likely do is
remove the SIM (subscriber identity module) that’s used to identify your phone
on the cellular network, which would knock out the smartphone’s data
communications. This is where advanced apps, such as the tools included with
Norton Mobile Security, come into play. For instance, the Norton app will
instantly lock your phone if the SIM card is removed. This way, your smartphone
can’t be used with another SIM card; that makes the phone essentially worthless
to a thief. Some security apps can also remotely lock your phone and use the
built-in camera to take a photo of the user in order to help identify the
smartphone thief. In a worst-case scenario, most will allow you to remotely
erase all of the information on your smartphone so that the thief won’t have
access to any of the private files, images, and emails stored on the phone or
on the memory card.
Benefits of a mobile security suite
In addition to helping locate your lost
phone, many mobile security apps also include antivirus and anti-spyware
protection. Some include a tool that will back up your phone’s contacts, which
is handy if you can’t recover the phone and need to move your contacts to a new
one.
In
addition to helping locate your lost phone, many mobile security apps also
include antivirus and anti-spyware protection.
Some smartphone security suites include a
scanner that can prevent infected apps from installing themselves and stealing
your personal information. Norton’s utility can also back up your contacts and
calendar and, to help you manage calls and texts, it can block specific phone
numbers (such as those belonging to a pesky telemarketer) from getting through.
