Lost/Stolen Cellphone Overseas - Information Secure?

July 4, 2016 6:42 AM

Lost my phone overseas. Is the information on my phone mostly secure?

I left my phone in the back of a taxi/uber overseas and after getting in contact with the driver it looks like another passenger has taken the phone. My phone has a swipe pattern (Samsung G4) and was on airplane mode. I've already contacted T-Mobile to disable ime and lock/secure the phone. I've tried to use Android Device Manager to wipe my phone and no luck. Like most people I have sensitive information on my phone.. My customer service rep reassured me tha my phone is essentially a paperweight for the thief now. Is this true? He said with it locked, ime disabled, swipe lock up after 4/5 attempts and the anti theft capability with my phone my information that I should be fine from an information security viewpoint. Is this true? Guess I'm just looking for someone who understands this more to explain my situation.. Apologies for typos, typing from a friends phone.

posted by driedmango to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

The phone may be unusable but unless you had encrypted your phone then it's possible for someone to get at the information on your phone. They would likely need to do some work to get it- either disassembling or flashing a new OS.

If you encrypted your phone you'd have to type a password when you first turn it on (before the minute or two of the OS loading). This is not the same as a lock password (although you could reuse the same password).
posted by noloveforned at 6:50 AM on July 4, 2016

Best answer: It sounds lie a crime of opportunity. The person who took it, either the next passenger or the driver, is not in the business of stealing information or very unlikely that is their motive. It sounds like they saw your phone, said to themselves, "self, free phone!" and snagged it.

I don't think your information is perfectly secure, but unless the taker was some serious hacker or had access to someone who is, then the customer service rep is right, they will not get access to your data. Heck, the FBI had to pay someone over a $1M to get access to the San Bernadino attacker's iPhone. Having said that, I would take whatever practical steps I could to protect whatever data it is that concerns you. If it is identity theft, put a hold on your credit.
posted by AugustWest at 7:56 AM on July 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'm sure a technologically-minded, highly-motivated thief could extract information from your phone. But they most likely wouldn't bother - I would imagine the average thief (especially a casual opportunistic thief) would be more likely to try to wipe the phone and try to use it/sell it as new, or just get frustrated and throw it away.

I would take what simple steps you can to avoid giving the thief any more access to your information than necessary: if you log into things via facebook, go to facebook (Settings => Security => Where You're Logged In) and log out of everything, everywhere. You can do similar things with other global sign-on programs. Change your bank passwords if you can.

But don't worry too much, it's probably fine.
posted by mskyle at 8:02 AM on July 4, 2016 [1 favorite]