Remotely locating and commanding a mobile device

• US 8,670,748 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2010
• Issued: 03/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Slack, Stuart, McCarthy, Brendan A., Guenther, Carsten, Sharp, Christopher Brooke
• Primary Examiner(s): Batista, Marcos
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fang, Keith
• Application Number:
  US12/750,600
• Publication Number:
  US 20100279675A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,442 Days
• Field of Search: 455/410, 455/411, 455418-420, 455/466, 455/414.1, 455/404.1
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4843 by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/67 by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/082 using revocation of authorisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/12 Detection or prevention of fraud
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/71 Hardware identity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus are presented for processing a remote lock command message. In one aspect, a method includes receiving, by a mobile device, a remote lock command message comprising a lock command and specifying a passcode to be set by the mobile device, locking the mobile device in response to the received remote lock command message, setting an unlock passcode associated with the mobile device to the specified passcode, and generating an acknowledgement message in response to the remote lock command message. Further, receiving the remote lock command message can include accessing a subscribed topic hosted on a notification service, the subscribed topic being associated with a lock command, and retrieving the remote lock command message from the subscribed topic. Additionally, locking the mobile device can include locking a display such that access to information stored on the mobile device and device functionality are blocked.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method performed by a specified mobile device, the method comprising:

accessing, by the specified mobile device, a notification service on a server separate from the specified mobile device, the notification service hosting a plurality of command collection topics, where each of the plurality of command collection topics is subscribed to by a unique mobile device;

accessing, by the specified mobile device, one of the plurality of command collection topics that is subscribed to by the specified mobile device, the accessed command collection topic including a plurality of command nodes, each corresponding to a remote command type;

polling, by the specified mobile device, each of the plurality of command nodes of the accessed command collection topic to determine whether one or more new remote command messages have been received by the accessed command collection topic;

retrieving, by the specified mobile device, from a remote lock command node included in the plurality of command nodes, a remote lock command message, where the remote lock command message comprises a lock command and a locking passcode;

locking, by the specified mobile device, the specified mobile device using the locking passcode in response to the lock command;

setting, by the specified mobile device, an unlock passcode associated with the specified mobile device; and

generating, by the specified mobile device, an acknowledgement message in response to the remote lock command message.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, prior to setting the unlock passcode, that the locking passcode complies with an implemented security constraint of the specified mobile device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

publishing the acknowledgement message to the notification service.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising:

publishing the acknowledgement message in substantially real time.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating an acknowledgement message further comprises:

including a time stamp indicating a time at which the remote lock command message was retrieved.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein locking the specified mobile device further comprises:

locking a display associated with the specified mobile device such that access to one or more of information stored on the specified mobile device and functionality of the specified mobile device is blocked.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein setting an unlock passcode further comprises:

initializing an unlock passcode associated with the specified mobile device.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, tangibly encoding a computer program product comprising instructions operable to cause a data processing apparatus comprised within a specified mobile device to perform operations comprising:

accessing, by the data processing apparatus, a notification service on a server separate from the mobile device, the notification service hosting a plurality of command collection topics, where each of the plurality of command collection topics is subscribed to by a unique mobile device;

accessing, by the data processing apparatus, one of the plurality of command collection topics that is subscribed to by the specified mobile device the accessed command collection topic including a plurality of command nodes, each corresponding to a remote command type;

polling, by the data processing apparatus, each of the plurality of command nodes of the accessed command collection topic to determine whether one or more new remote command messages have been received by the accessed command collection topic;

retrieving, by the data processing apparatus, from a remote lock command node included in the plurality of command nodes, a remote lock command;

locking, by the data processing apparatus, the specified mobile device in response to a lock command included in the remote lock command message; and

publishing, by the data processing apparatus, an acknowledgement message to the notification service.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

identifying a passcode specified by the remote lock command message;

detecting that the specified passcode does not comply with a security constraint implemented by the specified mobile device; and

determining, in response to the detecting, not to reset an unlock passcode associated with the specified mobile device.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

including a passcode error message in the acknowledgement message.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

locking the specified mobile device by locking a display such that access to one or more of information stored on the specified mobile device and functionality of the specified mobile device is blocked.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

including a time stamp in the acknowledgement message indicating a time at which the remote lock command was executed.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

including an indication that the specified mobile device was locked in the acknowledgement message.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

establishing a connection to the notification service over a wireless data connection.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

resetting an unlock password associated with the specified mobile device based on the specified passcode.

16. A mobile device comprising:

processor electronics;

a storage medium storing instructions executable by the processor electronics to cause the processor electronics to;

access the notification service on a server separate from the mobile device, the notification service including a plurality of command collection topics, where each of the plurality of command collection topics is subscribed to by a unique mobile device;

access one of the command collection topics of the plurality of command collection topics hosted on the notification service and subscribed to by the mobile device, the command collection topic subscribed to by the mobile device including a plurality of command nodes, each command node corresponding to a remote command type;

poll each of the plurality of command nodes of the accessed command collection topic to determine whether one or more new remote command messages have been received by the accessed command collection topic;

retrieve, from a remote lock command node included in the plurality of command nodes, a remote lock command message;

open the remote lock command message, the remote lock command message comprising a lock command and a locking passcode;

lock the specified mobile device in response to the lock command;

set an unlock passcode associated with the specified mobile device to the locking passcode; and

publish an acknowledgement message to the notification service.

17. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor electronics to cause the processor electronics to:

include in the acknowledgement message an indication confirming that the unlock passcode has been set to the locking passcode and a time stamp identifying a time at which the remote lock command message was retrieved.