How to Erase Laptop and Smart Phone Data Remotely
Mar 28, 2010 08:00 AM EDT by Jeffrey L. Wilson For Smart Phones
Apple MobileMe
Platform: iPhone
MobileMe ($99 per year) includes a remote wiping feature that returns your iPhone to factory settings. If you recover the missing iPhone, you can restore your calandars, contacts, and e-mail by enabling your MobileMe account on your iPhone (or connecting the iPhone to your notebook and using iTunes to restore data from the most recent iPhone backup).
① Make sure that your iPhone is connected to the web.
② Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Enable Push.
③ Enable Find My iPhone for your MobileMe account.
④ Should you lose your iPhone, log in to your
MobileMe account on a Mac or PC and click Find My iPhone on the left-hand side. MobileMe will attempt to locate the device.
⑤ After the phone is found, click Remote Wipe to return your iPhone to factory settings.
Kaspersky Mobile Security 8.0
Platform: Symbian S60, Windows Mobile
Kasperky Mobile Security innovates by allowing users to send a text message to their lost or stolen phone that deletes all information from system memory. Kaspersky Mobile Security (starting at $29.95 per year) is the consumer end version, while Mobile Security Enterprise is aimed at IT departments. Unique remote codes allow users to send a data-deleting text message that erases phone information.
① Install the software.
② Open the KMS menu and select Anti-theft Features. You will be prompted to enter your remote code.
③ Enable the Clean function.
④ Select which areas of your phone’s memory to delete (Personal Data, My Documents, Storage Card Files).
⑤ Use any other cell phone to text your lost or stolen phone your SMS code, along with the Clean instruction. For example, to wipe all data from your smart phone, send the following via SMS: “Clean: ‘your remote code’.”
Motoblur
Platform: Motorola Android
Motoblur is more than just Motorola’s user interface that sits on top of such Android phones as the Motorola Backflip, Cliq, and Devour. It’s a service that includes backup and security features. The remote deletion process (which comes as part of Motoblur) is remarkably simple.
① Log into your Motoblur account at www.motorola
.com/mymotoblur.
② On the phone profile page, click the Data Delete link.
③ Click Data Delete to remotely wipe your phone’s information.
Palm webOS
Platform: Palm
Palm webOS, currently found on such devices as the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi, has built-in remote deletion functionality that becomes available after you create a Palm profile on the handset. To delete data, follow these instructions. Note: Data deletion can take up to two hours, and the phone will be unable to place calls during that period.
① Point your notebook’s browser toward ps.palmws
.com/palmcsext/console/pages/LoginPage.iface.
② Look for your phone’s number and model number under Device Detail. Click Device Info.
③ Click I Lost My Phone > Erase Device.
SMobile Anti-Theft and Identity Protection
Platform: BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows Mobile
This service, which starts at $19.99 per year, can remotely lock and delete information on select handsets from any Web-enabled computer. The corporate version includes the Enterprise Management Console that will allow IT departments to manage multiple devices.
① Visit www.smobilesystems.com and log in.
② Once inside, click Wipe Handset, which will delete contact, e-mail, scheduling, and task information from the device.
③ Confirm to complete the process.■
- Page 1: Introduction
- Page 2: Data Removal Apps for Laptops
- Page 3: Data Removal Apps for Smart Phones
