Think when your Android device is stolen you don’t have an option to get it back but yes you can protect your data if you have internet connectivity and Android’s device manager is active on your phone.
If you are unaware of Android Device Manager then visit the below link to get an idea how device manager works:
Protect your Android phone by activating Android Device Manager
In this case you can erase your personal data but someone can still use this phone. What if you can make the phone unusable at all??? There is a chance that the thief will return your phone back… Who knows??
What if you don’t have internet connectivity?? There is no way out for you to save the data on your phone, right.
Sony has somewhat smarter solution for this. Looks like Google is trying to address this issue with a feature called “Device Protection” in Android Lollipop 5.1 and will make it official for all the Android devices. Check out what is this Sony’s ultimate feature.
Image credit: Xperiablog
What is Sony’s MXTP (My Xperia Theft Protection)
Sony’s “my Xperia” feature will be familiar to most Sony Xperia owners. The service is similar to Google’s Android Device Manager, allowing users to locate, ring, lock or wipe a device remotely.
However, a big disadvantage with these services is that it is relatively easy for someone to wipe a phone clean by using custom recoveries and installing custom ROMs in it and ‘my Xperia’ or ‘Android Device Manager’ on your phone is gone completely.
The good news for Xperia owners is that Sony has provided its own solution running on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop in the form of “My Xperia Theft Protection (MXTP)”.
Currently, only three Sony Xperia devices supports MXTP including the Xperia M4 Aqua, Xperia C4 and Xperia Z4 Tablet.
Sony’s MXTP feature is added to the bootloader of a phone, which means it will continue to protect your phone even if someone tries to wipe a device clean using PC Companion or third-party solutions such as Flashtool.
If someone does wipe a device, whilst you won’t be able to use the ‘my Xperia’ feature to locate it anymore (since all personal data on the operating system is deleted), MXTP will render it useless to a thief unless they know your Google log-in details.
Sony calls it as LockDown and is triggered if any of the following activity happens:
• Performing a master reset.
• Performing a software repair using PCC or B4M (or third party flash tools).
• Deleting the Google account used for enabling MXTP.
• Trying to disable MXTP in the settings and failing to provide the correct login credentials 5 times.
• Trying to delete MXTP or removing the administration rights of MXTP.
• Triggering Lockdown using MyXperia in a web browser (with the correct login credentials).
What happens in Lockdown?
Essentially, Lockdown will render the device completely useless unless you have the correct Google credentials to validate the device:
• All running applications are stopped.
• You can no longer maximize the notification panel.
• Incoming calls are sent to voicemail (if available).
• Outgoing calls (except emergency calls) are blocked.
• The USB port will only be available for charging. It will not be possible for a PC or Mac to detect the device.
This also applies to a software repair or flash. Lockdown will remain in effect until the user has validated the device. Reloading software, rebooting the device or manipulating the persistent storage will not disable the service.
This really sounds cool. If phone is stolen then nobody can use it at all.
Source | Via