HTC phone with WinMo 6.5 stolen, data wiped off remotely

Despite the massive avalanche of mobile devices last week at the MWC, one more thing that caught attention was the pick pocketing of an HTC phone (either Touch Pro 2 or Touch Diamond 2) given to Telstra’s CEO Sol Trujillo. Even though the theft’s motive is unclear, the thief had an access to three major things – unreleased ROM of WinMo 6.5, spanking new phone and contacts and other private details of the CEO.

If the pick pocketer had intentions other than scoring a new handset, he might have to face disappointment. A Microsoft employee has confirmed to the APC Mag that both the parties had nothing to lose except the handset. As soon as the theft occurred, MS remotely wiped off the whole OS as well as the user data on the handset.

Good thing: Microsoft has the ability to wipe of the OS; Security feature that could prove a boon to corporate users.

Bad thing: Probably it works like a kill switch that has more (read: full) control than the Apple’s app kill switch.

[Via APCMag]

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