Systems and methods for deterring theft of electronic devices

• US 7,355,506 B2
• Filed: 10/01/2003
• Issued: 04/08/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Chandley, Adrian Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman; Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, NAM V
• Application Number:
  US10/676,967
• Publication Number:
  US 20050073389A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,651 Days
• Field of Search: 340/5.31, 340/5.21, 340/5.28, 340/5.3, 340/571, 340/572.1, 340/572.8, 340/426, 340/567, 713/201, 235/382, 455410-411, 455/418, 455/343
• US Class Current: 340/5.31
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/554 involving event detection and direct action
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/74 operating in dual or compartmented mode, i.e. at least one secure mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/88 Detecting or preventing theft or loss
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2105 Dual mode as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2129 Authenticate client device independently of the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2143 Clearing memory, e.g. to prevent the data from being stolen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2147 Locking files
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like

Abstract

Systems and methods for remotely shutting down or preventing operation of device via a wireless network infrastructure are provided. The device may be disabled using a defined command the device receives on a wide area network, such as a SPOT network or wireless carrier network. In various embodiments, the device responds to pre-defined command(s) and operation is disabled locally. Override codes may be used to locally re-enable the device. In a “keep alive” embodiment, the device operates as long as it continues to receive “keep alive” messages from the intended environment.

Claims

1. A method for deterring theft of electronic devices, comprising:

receiving by a receiver of the device a disabling signal targeting the device remotely via a network, the disabling signal being transmitted at a rate that decreases corresponding to a duration of time that has expired since the device was reported lost;

in response to receiving the disabling signal, electronically disabling the device via a component of the device that cannot be removed without destroying the device; and

in response to receiving the disabling signal, transmitting from the device location information corresponding to the device.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the network is at least one of a wireless network, a radio broadcast network and a smart personal objects technology (SPOT) network.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

in response to receiving the disabling signal, displaying a message via a display of the device.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein said disabling includes electronically disabling the device by changing the status of at least one connection in the device from one of (a) open to closed and (b) closed to open.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein said disabling includes electronically disabling at least one subcomponent of the device.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said component is a processor and said disabling includes electronically disabling the device by disabling operation of at least a portion of the processor.

7. A method according to claim 1, further including locally entering a pre-defined code to the device to re-enable operation of the device.

8. A method according to claim 1, further including transmitting said disabling signal at least one of (a) as plain text, (b) at least partially encrypted and (c) encoded according to a predetermined format.

9. A method for deterring theft of electronic devices, comprising:

in response to receiving an indication that a device is lost, adding a unique identifier associated with the device to a list; and

broadcasting a disabling message targeting the device via at least one transmitter of a network, the disabling message being broadcast at a rate that decreases corresponding to a duration of time that has expired since receiving the indication that the device is lost,

such that in response to receiving the disabling message, the device disables via a component of the device that cannot be removed without destroying the device.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the network is at least one of a wireless network, a radio broadcast network and a smart personal objects technology (SPOT) network.

11. A method according to claim 9, further comprising:

receiving information from the device via at least one of (a) the network and (b) a second network to which the device is connected, said information providing a basis for resolving the location of the device; and

determining a location of the device based on said information.

12. A method according to claim 9, wherein said broadcasting includes periodically broadcasting the disabling message at least one of (a) as plain text, (b) at least partially encrypted and (c) encoded according to a predetermined format.

13. A computing device comprising means for carrying out the method of claim 9.

14. An electronic device, comprising:

at least one component capable of being disabled via at least one local disabling signal;

a processing component coupled to the at least one component; and

a receiver communicatively coupled to said processing component for receiving a remote disabling signal targeting the device via a network, the remote disabling signal being transmitted at a rate that decreases conesponding to a duration of time that has expired since the device was reported lost,

wherein, in response to said receiver'"'"'s reception of the remote disabling signal, said processing component electronically disables the device via said at least one component,

wherein none of said at least one component, said processing component and said receiver can be removed without destroying the device.

15. A device according to claim 14, wherein the network is at least one of a wireless network, a radio broadcast network and a smart personal objects technology (SPOT) network.

16. A device according to claim 14, further comprising:

a display for displaying a message in response to receiving the remote disabling signal.

17. A device according to claim 14, wherein said at least one component is at least one connection and said processing component electronically disables the device by changing the status of the at least one connection from one of (a) open to closed and (b) closed to open.

18. A device according to claim 14, wherein said at least one component is at least one subcomponent of the device.

19. A device according to claim 14, wherein said at least one component is at least one portion of the processing component and said processing component electronically disables the device by disabling operation of said at least one portion of the processing component.

20. A device according to claim 14, wherein the remote disabling signal is encoded at least one of (a) as plain text, (b) at least partially encrypted and (c) encoded according to a predetermined format.

21. A device according to claim 14, further comprising:

a transmitter for transmitting information over at least one of (a) the network and (b) a second network to which the device is connected, said information providing a basis for resolving the location of the device.

22. A device according to claim 21, wherein said information includes at least one of an Internet Protocol address and a MAC (media access control) address.

23. A computing device, comprising:

means for receiving by the device a disabling signal targeting the device remotely via a network, the disabling signal being transmitted at a rate that decreases conesponding to a duration of time that has expired since the device was reported lost;

means for electronically disabling, in response to receiving the disabling signal, the device via a component of the device that cannot be removed without destroying the device; and

means for transmitting from the device, in response to receiving the disabling signal, location information corresponding to the device.

24. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable modules having computer executable instructions for performing the following steps:

in response to receiving an indication that a device is lost, adding a unique identifier associated with the device to a list; and

broadcasting a disabling message targeting the device via at least one transmitter of a network, the disabling message being broadcast at a rate that decreases conesponding to a duration of time that has expired since receiving the indication that the device is lost,

such that in response to receiving the disabling message, the device disables via a component of the device that cannot be removed without destroying the device.

25. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable modules having computer executable instructions for performing the following steps:

receiving by a receiver of the device a disabling signal targeting the device remotely via a network, the disabling signal being transmitted at a rate that decreases corresponding to a duration of time that has expired since the device was reported lost;

in response to receiving the disabling signal, electronically disabling the device via a component of the device that cannot be removed without destroying the device; and

in response to receiving the disabling signal, transmitting from the device location information corresponding to the device.