To thwart phone theft, Google and Microsoft will add ‘kill switches” to their mobile operating systems

Nearly 3.1 million smartphones were stolen in the U.S. in 2013, close to double the number of devices stolen the year prior. In an attempt to curb this trend, Google and Microsoft have announced that they will be adding a “kill-switch” feature to their Android and Windows phone operating systems.

This option will allow the owner to render the device completely useless should it be stolen, thereby making the theft pointless. A report by the New York Attorney General summarized its purpose:

“An activated kill switch converts an easy-to-sell, high-value multimedia device into a jumble of plastic and glass, drastically reducing its street value.”

Apple and Samsung already offer a similar feature on some of their devices. With Google and Microsoft climbing on board, the kill switch option will now be a part of the three most popular phone operating systems in the world. 

For those unfamiliar with the technology, there is more than one version of a kill switch available:

A “hard” kill switch renders the stolen device permanently unusable. 

A “soft” kill switch makes the phone unusable to an unauthorized user.

With this being a fairly new technology and all, there are still some issues with both versions, including the fact that a hacker might be able to find a way to hijack a “kill” signal, or otherwise interrupt the signal by turning the phone off or putting it into airplane mode. Either which way, there’s a good chance it’ll never get the “kill” signal at all. The people making these points believe the only way to make a phone unusable is to physically damage it beyond function. 

That said, a majority of security experts do agree that Apple’s “Activation Lock”, introduced on all iPhones running the iOS7 operating system in September 2013, led to the drastic reduction in iPhone thefts overall (according to the New York State Attorney General, the first five months of 2014 saw Apple device thefts drop by 17% in New York City; London thefts fell 24%, and they were down by 38% in San Francisco six months after the feature was introduced).

“During the same period, thefts of other popular mobile devices increased,” the report pointed out. 

No word yet on the exact date either company will officially launch the feature. 

Story via bbc.com