Electronic device security and tracking system and method

• US 8,529,635 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2006
• Issued: 09/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Softex LLC (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Softex Incorporated
• Inventors: Bhansali, Apurva Mahendrakumar, Jain, Manoj Kumar, Dube, Shradha, Rangarajan, Gayathri, Patel, Mehul Ramjibhai, Raikar, Rayesh Kashinath, Dhanani, Kamal Mansukhlal, Kapila, Ranjit, Varghese, Elza Abraham, Tucker, Thomas David
• Primary Examiner(s): Orgad, Edan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tolentino, Roderick
• Application Number:
  US11/484,098
• Publication Number:
  US 20060272034A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,618 Days
• Field of Search: 726 1- 36, 379 37- 45, 340287-291
• US Class Current: 726/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/572 Secure firmware programming, e.g. of basic input output system [BIOS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/88 Detecting or preventing theft or loss
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/082 using revocation of authorisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/126 Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning

Abstract

A system and method for securing and tracking an electronic device. The system includes hardware, software and firmware components that cooperate to allow tracking, disabling, and other interaction with the stolen electronic device. The system includes an application component, non-viewable component and Basic Input/Output Subsystem (BIOS) component that are present on the electronic device. The BIOS component maintains the secured environment of the application and non-viewable components. If only the application component was provided, a simple low level format of the hard disk drive would remove the application and bypass the security features. The system implements an “application and BIOS” based solution to electronic device security.

Claims

1. A mobile device, comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU);

a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium responsive to the CPU;

a user information module responsive to the CPU;

a phone number for the mobile device associated with the user information module;

device identification information stored in the mobile device; and

instructions in the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium which, when executed by the mobile device, cause the mobile device to perform operations comprising;

after registering with a security and tracking server, receiving a message indicating that the mobile device has been registered with the security and tracking server;

in response to receiving the message indicating that the mobile device has been registered with the security and tracking server, setting the mobile device to an active state and allowing the mobile device to operate normally;

after (a) receiving the message indicating that the mobile device has been registered with the security and tracking server and (b) setting the mobile device to the active state, performing the following actions;

(1)(a) receiving a second message, wherein the second message comprises a backup command; and

(b) in response to the backup command, backing up user data from the mobile device to a remote system; and

(2)(a) automatically determining if the user information module associated with the phone number has been changed; and

(b) if the user information module associated with the phone number has been changed, disabling a function of the mobile device,

wherein, when the mobile device is in the active state, a security application is operating on the mobile device.

2. A mobile device according to claim 1, wherein:

the user data comprises at least one type of data from the group consisting of contact information, calendar information, and mobile commerce (M-commerce) monetary information.

3. A mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to the backup command, after backing up at least some of the user data to the remote system, disabling a function of the mobile device.

4. A mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a third message, wherein the third message comprises a restore command; and

in response to the restore command, copying user data from a remote system to the mobile device.

5. A mobile device according to claim 1, wherein:

the mobile device further comprises the security application; and

the operations further comprise;

attempting to retrieve device identification information from the mobile device, wherein the attempt is performed by the security application; and

in response to an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve device identification information from the mobile device, disabling a function of the mobile device.

6. A mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the disabling of a function of the mobile device if the user information module associated with the phone number has been changed comprises:

sending to the security and tracking server a notification that the user information module has been changed;

after sending the notification to the security and tracking server, receiving a third message at the mobile device, wherein the third message comprises a command to disable a function of the mobile device; and

in response to the command to disable a function of the mobile device, disabling a function of the mobile device.

7. A mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the device identification information comprises a concatenated string of numbers.

8. A mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the device identification information comprises at least one item from the group consisting of an International Mobile Equipment Identifier (IMEI) number, a model number of the mobile device, and the phone number of the mobile device.

9. A mobile device according to claim 1, wherein:

the user information module comprises a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or Read-Only-Memory (ROM); and

the user information module contains at least one item from the group consisting of;

the phone number of the mobile device, user information, security information, and a directory of phone numbers.

20. An article of manufacture according to claim 8, wherein the operation of backing up user data from the mobile device to the remote system comprises backing up at least one type of data from the group consisting of contact information, calendar information, and mobile commerce (M-commerce) monetary information.

10. A method for securing a mobile device, the method comprising:

after registering with a security and tracking server, receiving a message at a mobile device, wherein the message indicates that the mobile device has been registered with the security and tracking server, and wherein the mobile device comprises (a) device identification information and (b) a user information module associated with a phone number for the mobile device;

in response to receiving the message indicating that the mobile device has been registered with the security and tracking server, setting the mobile device to an active state and allowing the mobile device to operate normally;

after (a) receiving the message indicating that the mobile device has been registered with the security and tracking server and (b) setting the mobile device to the active state, performing the following actions;

(1) (a) receiving a second message, wherein the second message comprises a backup command; and

(b) in response to the backup command, backing up user data from the mobile device to a remote system; and

(2)(a) automatically determining the user information module associated with the phone number has been changed; and

(b) if the user information module associated with the phone number has been changed, disabling a function of the mobile device,

wherein, when the mobile device is in the active state, a security application is operating on the mobile device.

11. A method according to claim 10, further comprising:

in response to the backup command, after backing up user data from the mobile device to the remote system, disabling a function of the mobile device.

12. A method according to claim 10, wherein:

the user information module comprises a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or Read-Only-Memory (ROM);

the user information module contains at least one item from the group consisting of;

the phone number of the mobile device, user information, security information, and a directory of phone numbers; and

the operation of backing up user data from the mobile device to the remote system comprises backing up at least one type of data from the group consisting of contact information, calendar information, and mobile commerce (M-commerce) monetary information.

13. A method according to claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a third message, wherein the third message comprises a restore command; and

in response to the restore command, copying user data from a remote system to the mobile device.

14. A method according to claim 10, wherein the disabling of a function of the mobile device if the user information module associated with the phone number has been changed comprises:

sending to the security and tracking server a notification that the user information module has been changed;

after sending the notification to the security and tracking server, receiving a third message at the mobile device, wherein the third message comprises a command to disable a function of the mobile device; and

in response to the command to disable a function of the mobile device, disabling a function of the mobile device.

15. A method according to claim 10, further comprising:

attempting to retrieve device identification information from the mobile device, wherein the attempt is performed by the security application in the mobile device; and

in response to an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve device identification information from the mobile device, disabling a function of the mobile device.

16. A method according to claim 10, wherein the device identification information comprises a concatenated string of numbers.

17. A method according to claim 10, wherein the device identification information comprises at least one item from the group consisting of an International Mobile Equipment Identifier (IMEI) number, a model number of the mobile device, and the phone number of the mobile device.

18. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, and

instructions in the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium which, when executed by a mobile device, cause the mobile device to perform operations comprising;

after registering with a security and tracking server, receiving a message at the mobile device, wherein the message indicates that the mobile device has been registered with a security and tracking server, and wherein the mobile device comprises (a) device identification information and (b) a user information module associated with a phone number for the mobile device;

in response to receiving the message indicating that the mobile device has been registered with the security and tracking server, setting the mobile device to an active state and allowing the mobile device to operate normally;

after (a) receiving the message indicating that the mobile device has been registered with the security and tracking server and (b) setting the mobile device to the active state, performing the following actions;

(1)(a) receiving a second message, wherein the second message comprises a backup command; and

(b) in response to the backup command, backing up user data from the mobile device to a remote system; and

(2)(a) automatically determining if the user information module associated with the phone number has been changed; and

(b) if the user information module associated with the phone number has been changed, disabling a function of the mobile device,

wherein, when the mobile device is in the active state, a security application is operating on the mobile device.

19. An article of manufacture according to claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to the backup command, after the user data has been backed up to the remote system, disabling a function of the mobile device.

21. An article of manufacture according to claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a third message, wherein the third message comprises a restore command; and

in response to the restore command, copying user data from a remote system to the mobile device.

22. An article of manufacture according to claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

attempting to retrieve device identification information from the mobile device, wherein the attempt is performed by the security application in the mobile device; and

in response to an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve device identification information from the mobile device, disabling a function of the mobile device.

23. An article of manufacture according to claim 18, wherein the device identification information comprises at least one item from the group consisting of an International Mobile Equipment Identifier (IMEI) number, a model number of the mobile device, and the phone number of the mobile device.

24. An article of manufacture according to claim 18, further comprising the mobile device, wherein:

the mobile device comprises a processor in communication with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium;

the mobile device comprises a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless local area network (WLAN) capable computer, a cell phone, or a smart phone;

the user information module comprises a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or Read-Only-Memory (ROM); and

the user information module contains at least one item from the group consisting of;

the phone number of the mobile device, user information, security information, and a directory of phone numbers.

25. An article of manufacture according to claim 18, wherein the disabling of a function of the mobile device if the user information module associated with the phone number has been changed comprises:

sending to the security and tracking server a notification that the user information module has been changed;

after sending the notification to the security and tracking server, receiving a third message at the mobile device, wherein the third message comprises a command to disable a function of the mobile device; and

in response to the command to disable a function of the mobile device, disabling a function of the mobile device.

26. An article of manufacture according to claim 18, wherein the device identification information comprises a concatenated string of numbers.