To curb the increasing incidents of smartphone theft, two big telecom companies of Britain have taken a big step. Virgin Media O2 and VodafoneThree have implemented a new Kill Switch system, with the help of which new smartphones stolen from stores can be made completely useless remotely.

The purpose of this technology is to prevent the sale of stolen phones in the black market and to ensure that such phones remain of no value to organized criminals.

How does Kill Switch work?
This system will be applicable only on those smartphones which have not yet been sold to any customer. If a new phone is stolen from a store and is turned on for the first time, it is immediately identified.

after this:

• The phone’s data is recorded in a special database of the device manufacturer.
• The system flags it as a stolen device.
• After this, the phone is completely disabled by sending a remote command.
• Once the Kill Switch is activated, using the phone becomes almost impossible.

There will be no effect on the purchased phone
This technology has been created only for unsold smartphones stolen from stores. If a customer has purchased the phone legally, the telecom company cannot switch it off remotely. This is because after sale, the owner of the device is the customer, not the network operator.

Why did this step have to be taken?
According to the report, cases of mobile phone theft are continuously increasing in Britain. In London alone, more than 70,000 people became victims of phone theft last year. In such a situation, this new technology has been introduced to stop illegal buying and selling of stolen smartphones.

Pressure on Apple and Samsung also increased
Police and telecom industry have been demanding for a long time from companies like Apple, Samsung to provide universal anti-theft kill switch in all smartphones. According to the report, Apple already uses such a system for devices stolen from its Apple Store, but no work has been done yet to implement it across all companies and all devices.

The technology has already been implemented in Netherlands also
Before Britain, some mobile network operators in the Netherlands have also adopted similar technology to protect the smartphones kept in their stores. It is now expected that if this system is successful, it can be adopted in other countries in the future.

What will be the benefit?
If a stolen phone cannot be used, its black market value will almost disappear. This is expected to reduce the incidents of theft at mobile stores and it will not be a profitable deal for criminals to steal such phones.