Our phones are now packed with multimedia features and slowly replace our paper diaries. The loss of such private content is really annoying, but its impact may be limited by taking some preventive and reactive measures, such as:
Preventive measures:
- Lookup and keep your mobile IMEI – International Mobile Equipment Identity – number. This uniquely assigned number is used to identify valid devices and therefore can be used for stopping a stolen phone from accessing the mobile network. It is usually found printed inside the battery compartment of the phone or on the packaging. It can also be displayed on the screen of the phone by entering *#06# into the keypad on most phones..
- Back up your phone’s contents regularly to help avoid losing important data. Each manufacturer has its own set of tools or services and it would take too long to establish an exhaustive list.
Ractive measures:
- Call you GSM carrier and follow the instructions for reporting a lost/stolen phone.
- Swisscom : 0800 800 800
- Orange : 0800 700 700
- Sunrise : 0800 707 707
- Coop Mobile : 0800 780 782
If you have a professionnal – EPFL – phone, you can also get in touch with the telephone operators at +41 21 693 1111.
- If you synchronize the phone’s contents with the Microsoft Exchange Server at EPFL, it’s also possible to initiate a remote wipe of the device, as mentioned in Luc Venries’article.