Android Lollipop features “Factory Reset Protection” to stop thieves from wiping stolen phones

Security and device encryption are hot topics lately, and Google is staying ahead of the game by building a ton of useful new features into the latest version of Android. We already know that Lollipop will feature device encryption by default, but it looks like Google is taking an extra step towards making sure that a stolen phone can’t be wiped and re-used.

This new feature is called “Factory Reset Protection,” and it essentially prevents a thief from performing a factory reset on a stolen device. By default, Android will ask for a password before wiping itself, which will probably be the phone’s main Google account password. Couple this feature with Android remote lock feature and you can almost guarantee that a stolen phone won’t do anyone any good.

The only drawback here is waiting for devices to see an update to Lollipop, which, as we all know, can take some time depending on the phone, manufacturer, and carrier. But it’s still good to see Google implementing new security features that will eventually make their way to user devices.

source: The Verge

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