ExactTrak, a provider of global tracking and recovery solutions, has launched PhoneBAK, an anti-theft software solution that protects PDA, Blackberry and mobile phone users.
PhoneBAK automatically alerts the registered owner of a lost or stolen mobile device as soon as it is used with an unauthorised SIM card, allowing them to recover the phone or report data to the police.
According to the police, one of the first things a thief will do after stealing a mobile phone or PDA is replace the SIM card. With PhoneBAK, as soon as an unauthorised SIM card is put into the device it will silently send two SMS messages to numbers pre-defined by the user such as a spouse or colleague. This SMS message will include the identification number of the phone (IMEI and IMSI numbers), mast information, new telephone number and the GSM Area Code as well as SIM identification details.
This information can be used to contact the person who has stolen or found the device, or can be given to the police who can then follow up with the service provider to locate the device. ExactTrak also registers each PhoneBAK covered device with Immobilise, the national police database, so law enforcement officials know exactly who to return the recovered device to.
“Most people own at least one mobile phone or PDA and these devices can cost anything up to £400 and are capable of holding vast amounts of valuable data,” says Norman Shaw, managing director of ExactTrak. “When you consider that Transport for London alone recovers 10,000 mobile phones every month you get a good idea of how great the need is for technology that can track and help recover these devices if they go missing.”
“Our trials of the software have found that it is usually enough to contact the unauthorised user on the telephone number provided by PhoneBAK in order to recover it. Once people have been informed them that the phone has been fitted with a tracking device and reported stolen they are usually willing to hand it in at the nearest police station,” adds Shaw.
PhoneBAK auto runs every time the phone is powered up, and once run does not consume any battery or memory resources. It can support up to 10 SIM cards per phone.
PhoneBAK is compatible with Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Lenovo, LG Blackberry and any phone running Windows Mobile. It comes with a free premium data backup service from Mobyko.
