Nearer Than We Think

(Telegraph photo)

The defense against cellphone theft continues with the theftie:

the mobile security firm Lookout is adding a new tool for tracking down bad guys: the "theftie," a covert snapshot of someone trying to steal your phone.

It's part of an app that alerts you to suspicious behaviors on your phone, like a screen password mistyped three times. You get an email containing your phone's location and a highly unflattering look at the person holding your phone—be they Samaritan or supervillain.

If your humble observer stole a cellphone, his first move would be to stick a piece of colored tape over the camera(s) before pressing any buttons, and the theftie would be an un-incriminating black square. But that maneuver is supposedly beyond the capability of most villains.

To balance the scales, simple four-character password-protection of cellphones is too much trouble for most owners.

The takeover by moderately intelligent robots is nearer than we think. © 2014 Stephen Yuen