The Antitheft feature of BullGuard Mobile Security has been designed to safeguard your personal data and ensure that your phone can be located in the event it is lost or stolen. Users can lock their phone and wipe the personal data on it via the Internet, as well as track the devices movements via the built-in GPS.
The mobile phone is increasingly becoming as functional as a computer which means it is commonly being used to store more inviting data for criminal activity, consequently making it more susceptible to theft. The modern mobile phone is likely to contain passwords, personal documents and access to its user's entire social network, a worrying amount of personal information to lose or fall into the wrong hands.
According to research from Halifax Home Insurance claims, £390 million a year is lost in Britain due to the theft of mobile phones. With the average handset costing more than £100, this equates to more than 2 million mobile phones being stolen in the UK every year.
With the Antitheft feature of BullGuard’s Mobile Security solution you can remotely manage your mobile phone via a web browser. You can lock out other users if you suspect that your mobile phone has been stolen and can choose to wipe personal data to stop others from gaining access to your information or any other functions on the phone.
Without such a solution it is complicated for a user to lock their mobile phone without its physical presence: typically it is necessary to report the phone's IMEI number to either the police or the phone contract provider, however very few know what an IMEI number is or know to make a note of the number before the phone is stolen or lost.
Philip Dall, mobile security expert with BullGuard, commented: “It is possible for technically savvy criminals to access a phone’s original contents by using the device with an alternative provider in a different country. You cannot be sure that reporting the phone stolen is enough to protect the data on it, and so we highly recommend that personal data is remotely destroyed immediately, as soon as you know that the phone is stolen.”
The Antitheft feature of BullGuard Mobile Security also allows you to trace your phone with GPS which is embedded in the security suite. This enables you to instantly establish whether you have simply forgotten your mobile phone or whether it has been stolen. If the GPS locator provides data that leads you to believe your mobile phone has been stolen, the information can be provided to the police to help with their investigation. This is particularly helpful to the police if the crime has been committed by a criminal gang.
"With an effective anti-theft function, mobile phone users have complete peace of mind, making it possible to fully take advantage of the many choices that new smartphones provide,” said Dall. “We certainly don’t want people to refrain from using online banking, visiting password protected websites and keeping up to date on social networks with their mobile phones, our aim is to educate users on the dangers and help them to stay protected,” Dall concluded.