Google and Microsoft will add a “kill-switch” feature to their Android and Windows phone operating systems.
The feature is a method of making a handset completely useless if it is stolen, rendering a theft pointless.
Authorities have been urging tech firms to take steps to help curb phone theft and argued that a kill-switch feature can help resolve the problem.
Apple and Samsung, two of biggest phone makers offer a similar feature on some of their devices.
The move by Google and Microsoft means that kill switch will now be a part of the three most popular phone operating systems in the world.
Smartphone theft has become a big problem across the world. According to a report by US authorities:
- Some 3.1 million mobile devices were stolen in the US in 2013, nearly double the number of devices stolen in 2012
- One in three Europeans experienced the theft or loss of a mobile device in 2013
- In South Korea mobile device theft increased five-fold between 2009 and 2012
- In Colombia criminals stole over one million devices in 2013
In attempt to tackle the issue, policymakers have launched an initiative called Secure our Smartphones.
A part of it, they have urged technology firms to take steps to make it less attractive for robbers to steal mobile devices.
“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,” the report by New York Attorney General said.
What is a kill switch
- A “hard” kill switch would render a stolen device permanently unusable and is favoured by legislators who want to give stolen devices the “value of a paperweight”
- A “soft” kill switch only make a phone unusable to “an unauthorised user”
- Some argue that the only way to permanently disable a phone is to physically damage it
- Experts worry that hackers could find a way to hijack a kill signal and turn off phones
- If a phone is turned off or put into aeroplane mode, it might not receive the kill signal at all, warn experts
Authorities claim that Apple’s feature — dubbed Activation Lock — which it introduced on all iPhones running the iOS 7 operating system in September last year, has helped reduce theft substantially, BBC informs.
