Method and apparatus for protecting data in a portable electronic device
Data in a portable electronic device is protected by using external and internal status detection means to determine if the device is misplaced, lost, or stolen. The device then takes, singly or in combination, one of several actions to protect the data on the device, including declaring its location to an owner or service provider, locking the device or specific functions of the device to disable all data retrieval functionality, erasing or overwriting all the stored data in the device or, where the data has been stored in the device in an encrypted format, destroying an internally-stored encryption key, thereby preventing unauthorized access to the encrypted data in the device.
1. A method for actuating a portable electronic device, the method comprising executing software embodied on the portable electronic device which causes the portable electronic device to perform the steps of:
receiving dialing patterns entered into the device;
comparing the received dialing patterns with a history of previously dialed patterns;
determining a status of the portable electronic device, wherein the status is determined by the portable electronic device, internally, based on the comparison;
determining a location of the portable electronic device, wherein the location is calculated based on GPS; and
triggering at least one of a plurality of actions in response to the internally determined status, wherein the at least one of the plurality of actions comprises transmitting the location to a website accessible by an authorized user of the portable electronic device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining the location of the portable electronic device is additionally based on WiFi triangulation.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising triggering at least two of the plurality of actions, wherein a first action comprises transmitting the location to the website accessible by the authorized user of the portable electronic device, and a second action comprises locking the portable electronic device.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising triggering at least two of the plurality of actions, wherein a first action comprises transmitting the location to the website accessible by the authorized user of the portable electronic device, and a second action comprises sounding an audible alarm of the portable electronic device.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising triggering at least two of the plurality of actions, wherein a first action comprises transmitting the location to the website accessible by the authorized user of the portable electronic device, and a second action comprises erasing stored data in the portable electronic device.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising triggering at least two of the plurality of actions, wherein a first action comprises transmitting the location to the website accessible by the authorized user of the portable electronic device, and a second action comprises destroying an encryption key associated with data of the portable electronic device.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the internally determined status indicates that the portable electronic device is misplaced, lost, or stolen.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of internally determining the status of the portable electronic device further comprises comparing an elapsed time after a last usage of the portable electronic device to a predetermined threshold value.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein executing software embodied on the portable electronic device comprises causing the portable electronic device to trigger at least three of the plurality of actions in response to the internally determined status.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining the location of the portable electronic device is additionally based on RFID.
11. A portable electronic device comprising:
a processing unit;
a communications interface;
a GPS unit; and
a memory unit operably coupled to the processing unit, the memory unit having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the processing unit, cause the portable electronic device to:
receive dialing patterns entered into the device;
compare the received dialing patterns with a history of previously dialed patterns;
internally determine a status of the portable electronic device based on the comparison;
determine a GPS based location of the portable electronic device; and
trigger at least one of a plurality of actions in response to the portable electronic device internally determining the status, wherein the at least one of the plurality of actions comprises transmitting, the location to a website accessible by an authorized user of the portable electronic device.
12. The portable electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the memory unit embodies instructions executable by the processing unit to determine the location of the portable electronic device based on WiFi triangulation in addition to GPS.
13. The portable electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the memory unit embodies instructions executable by the processing unit to trigger at least two of the plurality of actions, wherein a first internal protection action comprises transmitting the location to the website accessible by the authorized user of the portable electronic device, and a second action comprises locking of the portable electronic device.
14. The portable electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the memory unit embodies instructions executable by the processing unit to trigger at least two of the plurality of actions, wherein a first action comprises transmitting the location to the website accessible by the authorized user of the portable electronic device, and a second action comprises sounding of an audible alarm of the portable electronic device.
15. The portable electronic device of claim 11 , further comprising:
a storage unit configurable to electronically store data on the portable electronic device and the memory unit embodies instructions executable by the processing unit to trigger at least two of the plurality of actions, wherein a first action comprises transmitting the location to the website accessible by the authorized user of the portable electronic device, and a second action comprises erasing of the stored data in the portable electronic device.
16. The portable electronic device of claim 11 , further comprising:
a storage unit configurable to electronically store encrypted data on the portable electronic device and the memory unit embodies instructions executable by the processing unit to trigger at least two of the plurality of actions, wherein a first action comprises transmitting the location to the website accessible by the authorized user of the portable electronic device, and a second action comprises destruction of an encryption key associated with the encrypted data stored on the portable electronic device.
17. The portable electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the memory unit further comprises instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the processing unit, causes the portable electronic device to internally determine the status by comparing an elapsed time after a last usage of the portable electronic device to a predetermined threshold value.
18. The portable electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the memory unit embodies instructions executable by the processing unit to trigger the portable electronic device to perform at least three of the plurality of actions in response to the portable electronic device internally determining the status.
19. The portable electronic device of claim 11 , wherein the memory unit embodies instructions executable by the processing unit to determine the location of the portable electronic device based on RFID in addition to GPS.
20. A portable electronic device comprising:
means for receiving and monitoring dialing patterns received at the portable electronic device during placed calls;
means for comparing the dialing patterns and determining an elapsed time between placed calls;
means for internally determining a status of the portable electronic device based on the determined elapsed time between placed calls;
means for determining a GPS based location of the portable electronic device;
means for actuating at least one of a plurality of responses, associated with the internally determined status, wherein the at least one response comprises communicating the determined location to an authorized user of the portable electronic device, via a website which is accessible to the authorized user; and
means for locking the portable electronic device after communicating the response.