I was reading through the TreoCentral forums last night and found a very interesting article in a thread started by ilovedessert entitled "Lets Hope Palm Gets This Software!". And after reading the article, I too hope that Palm will get this software for their smartphones. The software is a security app called Maverick Secure Mobile by Maverick Mobile.
Maverick Secure Mobile was unveiled at the DEMO technology conference in San Diego, California a couple of weeks ago. Secure Mobile helps you protect your stolen device, retrieve your phonebook and disable the stolen device remotely. Whoever stole your phone won't even know that the security app is on the phone because the app works in a hidden mode and can't be viewed in the device. Once you have the app on your phone, you give Maverick Mobile a second phone number like your spouse's, another relative, or a friend's; whoever you want to receive all the reports from your phone.
If someone steals your phone, the moment that thief changes the SIM, Secure Mobile will encrypt all the data on the device like the phonebook, photos, messages, etc. Secure mobile will also track your lost or stolen phone. The app will send the phone number, device ID, county code, operator name and area code to the reporting device via SMS. Also, and this is so cool, Secure Mobile will report about activities performed on the stolen device via SMS like Outgoing Calls Made to / Incoming Call Received From / SMS Delivered to whoever, along with the TEXT, and New contacts added to Phone book. LOL! I'm loving this app already!
Your Contacts are the most important data on your phone, but don't worry. Secure Mobile will retrieve your entire phonebook from the stolen device. You just have to send the SMS "contact=all" from the reporting device. As soon as the stolen device receives the SMS, it will start sending the entire phonebook through SMS, and this by using the thief's own data plan! HaHaHa! Imagine the huge phonebooks that many business users have on their devices. The nasty thief would be in for a big surprise when his wireless phone bill arrives.
Secure Mobile also has what is referred to as Spy Call. If the owner calls from the reporting device to the stolen device, Spy Call will switch on the loudspeaker and Mic of the stolen device remotely, so the caller can actually listen to the conversation the other person is having. So you can listen in on the thief's phone call and he'll never know. The Spy Call won't give any notification or ring to the stolen device. The person who receives the Spy Call won't be able to know he is being called by the owner. And even if he does happen to know about Spy Call, he can't disconnect the Spy Call.
Secure Mobile can also raise an alarm on your stolen phone and disable the phone. To disable the stolen device remotely, send the SMS "hang" from the Reporting device to the stolen device. A loud siren will start blaring. Secure Mobile will also display a customized message. You could type in his Name, Address, alternate number and award amount. The thief can't turn the siren off. The only way he can disable it is to remove the battery. But as soon as he puts the battery back in, the alarm will begin to sound again. *snicker* I love it! ;-)
According to the article in the TreoCentral forum thread, Secure Mobile is currently in beta, but Maverick has a deal with Nokia to begin distributing the app on Nokia phones. I would love to have Secure Mobile on my phones! I'd never want to lose my phone, but with an app like this on it, I sure wouldn't be quite as worried.
You can read more about Maverick Secure Mobile over at Maverick Mobile's web site. There is also a video demonstrating Secure Mobile that you can watch.
