Remote wipe is a functionality that enables you wipe off every shred of information on your device from a remote location. Typically, if your device gets stolen, some of the first things the new possessor would do would be to check for banking apps and other apps that can be used to perform financial transactions on the device, check emails, messages and other communication apps for information that can be used for malicious activities including initiating or progressing with certain conversations on your behalf or forwarding certain information to other destinations for next steps, and a long list of other things that would advance his malicious intentions. If you do not have a self-destruct plan for that device, you are toast! With remote wipe, all you will do is login from another device, establish connection with your stolen device and blow it up to high heavens, pulverizing everything you have on it. You sure might not get your device back, but you would have minimized the exploits and systematic attacks that would have followed your losing possession of it.
The goal of this short chapter is to get you comfortable with the idea of blowing up your own things, and here’s how to go about it.
Marching Orders
- Schedule automatic cloud backup for all your devices and ensure that it runs frequently. Without this the blow up plan would be too costly.
- Configure remote wipe on your devices. To do this, simply run a search on “How to configure remote wipe for <insert device name>”. Follow the steps you find and you should be fine; in some cases you might have to install a software for this on your device.
- In the event of a missing or stolen device (for which you have confirmed it isn’t misplaced somewhere in your room!) prepare to blow it up.
- Once you have performed a remote wipe, you can get a new device and restore your backup from the cloud. Remember to configure remote wipe and scheduled backups on the new device as well.
- As usual, sound the battle cry to those around you—“Blowing up your own stuff must be part of your battle plan, else it is incomplete.”