Given that in the UK one mobile phone is stolen on average every twelve seconds, it’s good to hear that Remote XT, a rigorous new mobile security service, is now available at the rather costly rate of £10 per month. The service is designed to prevent thieves from using stolen phones and accessing the data contained on them.

Under the new system, a signal is sent to the mobile once it is reported lost or stolen, causing it to emit an alarm similar to a scream. The alarm noise is accompanied by a message, reading “This phone is stolen”. This might not work so well for an inconspicuous phone, which unlike a car, can easily be muffled or stuffed in a pocket. Presumably it can’t keep screaming for ever.

More importantly than the alarm, the phone is automatically disabled when reported as lost or stolen, and all contact numbers, texts, images and emails are deleted.

Detective Superintendent Steve Bending, head of the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit, said: “The NMPCU is supportive of measures that make mobile phones less desirable items to steal and worthless in the hands of those who seek to profit from mobile phone criminality. “Any opportunity to disable a mobile phone and render it useless, should it be stolen, is welcomed.” Some services have been developed to block the use of stolen SIM cards and handsets, but these are not foolproof, he went on.

It’s interesting to note that there’s even a separate unit for mobile phone crime – you know something has become socially significant when it merits a separate police unit!

<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5397602.stm”>Source: BBC