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发帖数: 1034 | 1 Android By Ryan Whitwam Jun. 20, 2014 8:29 am
Android
Law enforcement and state legislatures have been ramping up pressure on
phone and tablet makers to do something about the rampant theft of mobile
devices. Calls for a built-in kill switch of some sort have only increased
since Apple introduced Activation Lock in iOS 7. Now US law enforcement
officials are set to announce an agreement with Google and Microsoft to add
a similar feature to their mobile devices.
New data that will be detailed alongside the plan shows that Apple’s
Activation Lock has resulted in a decrease in iDevice theft. In New York,
theft of iPhones was down 19 percent during the first five months of 2014,
while robberies in general were only down 10%. At the same time, theft of
Samsung phones rose by more than 40%. iPhone thefts in San Francisco and
London were also down by 38% and 24%, respectively.
There are probably a variety of factors that figure in here, but the lack of
a kill switch on Android devices is likely part of it. If there were any
Windows Phones out there to steal, I’m sure they too would be a target for
thieves. Anyone in the business of stealing phones would have learned
shortly after iOS 7 came out that a stolen iDevice would often be unusable.
So, why not snatch a Samsung instead?
It’s not clear how these systems will be implemented, but it will probably
be similar to the iOS version. On Apple’s platform, once you sign into
iCloud, your username and password is required to activate the device after
resetting it. Anyone who has taken even the most basic steps to secure a
device should be protected, so it doesn’t really matter that some people
don’t use these features. The proportion is large enough that iDevice
owners are enjoying some level of herd immunity. Maybe everyone will soon be
enjoying such benefits. |
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