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Remote "Self-Destruction" in 2.0

M

MBX

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 14, 2006
2,030
817
I've seen Phil Shillers demo showing how it is possible to wipe the iphone via exchange server and "brick" it (i believe) in case it's lost or stolen.

But what for all of us who don't use exchange server and would like this option?

Will there be a tool from within your mac to be able to somehow do this?
 
Its a cool feature actually so why they would only allow people to do it who use a Microsoft product i don't know.
 
I don't think it's meant to brick it. I think it's just to wipe any data stored to protect sensitive company info. They mentioned some enterprise tools. So that's where I'd expect to see it.
 
Yeah, its meant to wipe out any data on the unit -- essentially restoring the phone. Companies have mitigation plans like this in place all the time. And remember, it is up the Company's Security Policy if they even let you access their servers with an iPhone.

You probably will NOT see a wide adoption of this at first.
 
Kind of scary if a hacker could weasel their way in to wipe the data on your phone.....
 
A third party app might be able to do this without all the Exchange stuff.

It's a popular program on other phones, and works like this in their case:

You set codewords that do certain actions (lock phone, unlock phone, clear info, etc) along with a master password.

The program runs in the background and watches for SMS text messages with your master password and desired function codeword.

Thus from anywhere, as long as you can send an SMS to it, you can lock/wipe/unlock or whatever, your phone. If it has GPS you could even have it text back a reply with its location.
 
bbotte said:
Kind of scary if a hacker could weasel their way in to wipe the data on your phone.....
Click to expand...

Ok, that would suck, but really there shouldn't be anything on the phone that's not also on your computer except maybe a few of your most recent photos.

So the potential to ruin your life is pretty low.
 
This is not an Apple feature. this has been the cace with all windows mobile 5 phones connected to the exchange using push email. i had an O2 xda mini s before the iphone and had the exchange set to push emails to it just like the iphone is doing. the phone has to be registered to the exchange server and then you run an app on the server to factory reset the phone. this will loose all contacts and everything stored on the phone. if it like the M$ mobile 5 you will just have a factory reset phone. it is then you call apple, o2, at&t and tell them that the phone is lost or stolen and then they block the phone. it will also only work via the mobile network not wifi. at least that is what the M$ ones are like
 
I though about this during the event. Actually said it in the thread but got glossed over. Wouldn't this be great for anyone that had thier phone stolen. The ability to brick the phone. Not just wipe clean but redure it useless to the person that stole it from you. We have people always saying they had the phone stolen and want it back or at least want the info gone. More then likely when they are stolen the info is the last thing the thief wants. It goes to the ability to fidn your stolen, phone or ipod. I think this would make lots of folks happy. I understand from the posts it is only for Exchange users but I think this would be a great overal feature for the phone.
 
the carrier could potentially do this

as an alternative to having this function ourselves ie computer software, the carrier (o2, tmobile AT&T) could offer this function. when you lose your phone or it it stolen you would call them to block your number and maybe wipe your content. you could also access this function from the carriers website. so you would not need microsoft exchange software.
d
 
kdarling said:
A third party app might be able to do this without all the Exchange stuff.

It's a popular program on other phones, and works like this in their case:

You set codewords that do certain actions (lock phone, unlock phone, clear info, etc) along with a master password.

The program runs in the background and watches for SMS text messages with your master password and desired function codeword.

Thus from anywhere, as long as you can send an SMS to it, you can lock/wipe/unlock or whatever, your phone. If it has GPS you could even have it text back a reply with its location.
Click to expand...


Although you can't run apps in the background...
 

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this in theory should only be able to wipe Exchange data - eg mailbox and all folders, contacts, calendar - the stuff that syncs up with outlook perhaps not itunes music or photos..

maybe im wrong... anyway i would never invest in exchange coz i hate m$ and i get a pretty good sync of mailboxes between all macs using Gmail IMAP including all folders subfolders sub-subfolders so would never invest in it and my contacts i dont mind syncing manually every week by a flashdisk between my machines..
 
zainjetha said:
this in theory should only be able to wipe Exchange data - eg mailbox and all folders, contacts, calendar - the stuff that syncs up with outlook perhaps not itunes music or photos..

maybe im wrong... anyway i would never invest in exchange coz i hate m$ and i get a pretty good sync of mailboxes between all macs using Gmail IMAP including all folders subfolders sub-subfolders so would never invest in it and my contacts i dont mind syncing manually every week by a flashdisk between my machines..
Click to expand...

if it is anything line the windows mobile phones it factory resets the phone. as long as you are using the active sync direct push. if you are using imap it will do nothing. the exchange server sends a "distruct" signal to the phone and then goes through the factory reset procedure. on the m$ phones you then had to set everything back up. i think it also kept resetting the phone untill you tell the server to stop.
 

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sorry forgot to add this. this is where you set the policy for the mobile devices in exchange 2003
 

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