Wireless Device Content Information Theft Protection System

Abstract

A wireless device, such as a laptop computer or a cellular phone, may contain confidential information which may be secured by an internal security system. When the device is stolen, the user can provide a portion of a kill code to a wireless service provider. The wireless service provider provides its own portion of the kill code and combines it with the user's supplied code. Then, the service provider may transmit the combined kill code to the wireless device. Upon receipt, the wireless device may erase all confidential information on the device. In other embodiments, it may erase any unlocked block of memory. As still another alternative, the system may also, upon receipt of the combined kill code, disable the operating system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 providing a two-portion kill code, said kill code including a first portion provided to the user of the wireless device and a second portion provided to a wireless service provider that provides wireless service for the wireless device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  including storing said kill code in a flash memory. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  including storing said kill code in a locked block of said flash memory. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  including providing a code that is activated by said kill code to automatically erase certain portions of a memory of said device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  including providing code that automatically erases unlocked blocks of flash memory. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  including providing software on said wireless device that prompts the user to enter at least one portion of said two-portion kill code and automatically stores said at least one portion of said two-portion kill code. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  including automatically prompting the user to enter both portions of said two-portion kill code and automatically storing both portions of said two-portion kill code. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  including automatically transmitting the service provider's portion of said two-portion kill code to said service provider. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising providing a two-portion kill code including a first portion provided to the user of the wireless device and a second portion, different from said first portion, provided to a wireless service provider who provides wireless service for the wireless device, the combination of said first and second portions forming said kill code, said kill code to automatically set the flag to prevent further execution of an operating system of said device when said kill code is detected by said wireless device. 
     
     
         10 . A system comprising:
 a controller;   a storage coupled to said controller storing a two-portion kill code including a first portion provided to the user of the system and a second portion provided to a wireless service provider that provides wireless service to the system; and   a wireless interface coupled to said controller.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10  wherein said memory is a flash memory. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein said flash memory includes locked blocks and unlocked blocks. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein said kill code is stored in locked blocks of said flash memory. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein confidential information is stored in said unlocked blocks of said flash memory. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14  wherein said operating system is stored in locked blocks of said flash memory. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 10  wherein said storage stores code activated by receipt of a kill code to automatically erase certain portions of said storage. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , said code to automatically erase unlocked blocks of said storage. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 10  wherein said storage storing a two-portion kill code including a first portion provided to the user of the system and a second portion, different from said first portion, provided to a wireless service provider that provides wireless service to the system, the combination of the first and second portions forming said kill code to automatically set the flag to prevent further execution of an operating system of said system when said kill code is detected, said controller to enable the service provider to remotely turn said system on so that said flag may be set.