Mobile security firm Lookout has announced some new anti-theft features to fight against smartphone theft, including a neat tool that snaps a picture of the thief.
Lookout's latest solution for the growing phone-theft issue involves a new tool suite called Theft Alerts, which will notify phone owners as soon as it detects unusual activity on the device. Such unusual activity includes entering the wrong PIN code, removing the SIM card, enabling the Airplane mode, turning off the device, or removing the Lookout app as the phone's administrator. All of these practices are commonly used by phone thieves when dealing with a stolen device, and Lookout aims to give you more control in such situations.
"At Lookout, mobile security means more than protecting your phone from digital threats - it's also about making sure the physical device and the precious data it carries stays safe. With 1 out of 10 people falling victim to phone theft, we're excited to announce Theft Alerts, one more way Lookout is helping to curb the growing phone theft problem and protect your mobile privacy," touts the company.
"We've done our research at Lookout and identified common actions thieves take after stealing a device, which prevent you from calling or tracking it (in fact, 68 percent of people do not get their phone back). Lookout's Theft Alerts recognize these actions, and within minutes sends the victim an email with a photo of the thief and a map with the exact location of your phone or tablet."
In other words, once the anti-theft suite detects one of the aforementioned unusual activities on your device, it will quietly snap a photo of the thief - called a "theftie" - using the phone's front camera and email said photo, along with the phone's location on a map, to the victim's email.
Of course, even device owners themselves do one or more of those actions deemed as "unusual activity," that's why Lookout allows users to customize their Theft Alerts experience and turn off certain triggers.
Lookout's security software has been able to capture and email a picture of the thief for quite some time now, but the latest update now makes everything exclusive to paid users.
Theft Alerts is now available in Lookout Mobile Security Premium on Android and iOS, with a $2.99 price per month or $29.99 per year. The new Theft Alerts suite will first roll out to all current Lookout Premium users, who will receive a notification sometime next week. Check out the video below to get a better idea of the new Theft Alerts.
