On Friday, June 3, the Android Open Source Project has added to the Android Device Manager the option to remotely brick a lost or stolen phone.
According to AndroidAuthority, when an Android phone gets lost or stolen, users can either go to Android Device Manager to locate or remotely wipe the phone, blacklist the phone's IMEI, or install an app to take a photo of anyone trying to unlock it. But a new option was just added by the Change 235361 option.
This newly implemented option now makes it possible for users to brick a device in case it is stolen or lost. The change gives users the possibility to brick their devices via recovery and allows manufacturers to define partitions that can be remotely wiped.
Phone makers will have the possibility to define which partitions would be deleted when the bricking command is used. However, unless the phone is sent back to the manufacturer for a fix, if all partitions are wiped then the phone cannot be recovered.
It is still unknown how exactly the change might get implemented in Android. However, this comes with a clear advantage in terms of physical safety of users' phones, making the mobile devices completely useless to anyone who stole or found them.
Although, to brick a device is a pretty serious step and this would not help much if the user ends up finding the phone later. But for those users who know that they are definitely not getting their phone back, then this is a pretty useful option for wiping out any potential re-sale value.
Hackers could also be stopped through remote bricking from accessing account details and personal information. However, at this point it is still unclear whether Google plans to include the feature in future Android versions.
According to PhoneArena, it will be up to manufacturers how they will implement the bricking command. The command comes even with an option to include in the process the external SD card.
