{"id":26439,"date":"2014-06-21T10:50:04","date_gmt":"2014-06-21T10:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=26439"},"modified":"2014-06-21T10:50:04","modified_gmt":"2014-06-21T10:50:04","slug":"android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Android and Windows to get &#8216;kill switch&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"story_continues_1\">Google and Microsoft will add a &#8220;kill-switch&#8221; feature to their Android and Windows phone operating systems.<\/p>\n<p>The feature is a method of making a handset completely useless if it is stolen, rendering a theft pointless.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities have been urging tech firms to take steps to help curb phone theft and argued that a kill-switch feature can help resolve the problem.<\/p>\n<p>Apple and Samsung, two of the biggest phone makers, offer a similar feature on some of their devices.<\/p>\n<p>The move by Google and Microsoft means that kill switches will now be a part of the three most popular phone operating systems in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Growing problem<\/p>\n<p id=\"story_continues_2\">Smartphone theft has become a big problem across the world. According to a report by US authorities:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some 3.1 million mobile devices were stolen in the US in 2013, nearly double the number of devices stolen in 2012<\/li>\n<li>One in three Europeans experienced the theft or loss of a mobile device in 2013<\/li>\n<li>In South Korea mobile device theft increased five-fold between 2009 and 2012<\/li>\n<li>In Colombia criminals stole over one million devices in 2013<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In an attempt to tackle the issue, policymakers have launched an initiative called Secure our Smartphones.<\/p>\n<p>As part of it, they have urged technology firms to take steps to make it less attractive for robbers to steal mobile devices.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>An activated kill switch converts an easy-to-sell, high-value multimedia device into a jumble of plastic and glass\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New York State Attorney General<\/p><\/div>\n<p id=\"story_continues_2\">Smartphone theft has become a big problem across the world. According to a report by US authorities:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some 3.1 million mobile devices were stolen in the US in 2013, nearly double the number of devices stolen in 2012<\/li>\n<li>One in three Europeans experienced the theft or loss of a mobile device in 2013<\/li>\n<li>In South Korea mobile device theft increased five-fold between 2009 and 2012<\/li>\n<li>In Colombia criminals stole over one million devices in 2013<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In an attempt to tackle the issue, policymakers have launched an initiative called Secure our Smartphones.<\/p>\n<p>As part of it, they have urged technology firms to take steps to make it less attractive for robbers to steal mobile devices.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;An activated kill switch converts an easy-to-sell, high-value multimedia device into a jumble of plastic and glass, drastically reducing its street value,&#8221; the report by New York Attorney General said.<\/p>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"line\" src=\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/74982000\/jpg\/_74982321_line976.jpg\" width=\"464\" height=\"2\" \/><\/div>\n<p><strong>Explainer: How a kill switch works<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A &#8220;hard&#8221; kill switch would render a stolen device permanently unusable and is favoured by legislators who want to give stolen devices the &#8220;value of a paperweight&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>A &#8220;soft&#8221; kill switch only make a phone unusable to &#8220;an unauthorised user&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Some argue that the only way to permanently disable a phone is to physically damage it<\/li>\n<li>Experts worry that hackers could find a way to hijack a kill signal and turn off phones<\/li>\n<li>If a phone is turned off or put into aeroplane mode, it might not receive the kill signal at all, warn experts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"line\" src=\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/74982000\/jpg\/_74982321_line976.jpg\" width=\"464\" height=\"2\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Authorities claim that Apple&#8217;s feature &#8211; dubbed Activation Lock &#8211; which it introduced on all iPhones running the iOS 7 operating system in September last year, has helped reduce theft substantially.<\/p>\n<p>According to a report by the New York State Attorney General, in the first five months of 2014 the theft of Apple devices fell by 17% in New York City.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile iPhone robberies fell 24% in London and 38% in San Francisco in the six months after Apple introduced the feature, compared to the previous six months.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;During the same period, thefts of other popular mobile devices increased,&#8221; the report says.<\/p>\n<p>Manoj Menon, managing director of consulting firm Frost &amp; Sullivan said the move was a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is a fantastic move and will go a long way in helping authorities come one step closer to realising a vision of zero theft of mobile phone,&#8221; he told the BBC.<\/p>\n<p>But he added that it was &#8220;not a foolproof system&#8221; as thieves &#8220;will find a way to monetise the accessories and parts of a phone&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>However, he said the market for parts and accessories was relatively small and the kill switch &#8220;does substantially reduce the financial incentive of stealing a device&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google and Microsoft will add a &#8220;kill-switch&#8221; feature to their Android and Windows phone operating systems. The feature is a method of making a handset completely useless if it is stolen, rendering a theft pointless. Authorities have been urging tech firms to take steps to help curb phone theft and argued that a kill-switch feature [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":26441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[18],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Android and Windows to get &#039;kill switch&#039; - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Android and Windows to get &#039;kill switch&#039; - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Google and Microsoft will add a &#8220;kill-switch&#8221; feature to their Android and Windows phone operating systems. The feature is a method of making a handset completely useless if it is stolen, rendering a theft pointless. Authorities have been urging tech firms to take steps to help curb phone theft and argued that a kill-switch feature [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-21T10:50:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/ANDROID.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"464\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"261\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/\",\"name\":\"Android and Windows to get 'kill switch' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-21T10:50:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-21T10:50:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Android and Windows to get &#8216;kill switch&#8217;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\",\"name\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Android and Windows to get 'kill switch' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Android and Windows to get 'kill switch' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"Google and Microsoft will add a &#8220;kill-switch&#8221; feature to their Android and Windows phone operating systems. The feature is a method of making a handset completely useless if it is stolen, rendering a theft pointless. Authorities have been urging tech firms to take steps to help curb phone theft and argued that a kill-switch feature [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2014-06-21T10:50:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":464,"height":261,"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/ANDROID.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/","name":"Android and Windows to get 'kill switch' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-06-21T10:50:04+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-21T10:50:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/06\/android-and-windows-to-get-kill-switch-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Android and Windows to get &#8216;kill switch&#8217;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1","name":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kojo Akoto Boateng"},"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26439"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}