Met chief gives phone firms deadline over thefts

"I'm setting a clear public marker, if by 1 June, the industry has not come to the table in a genuinely serious and solution-focused way, with concrete commitments on stolen mobile phones... the Met will formally write to the Home Secretary to ask that she legislates."

"Phone companies are leaving customers at risk until they take action to make stolen devices "unusable bricks". For nearly three years we have sought meaningful engagement with phone manufacturers and their response to date does not match the scale of harm and risk to their customers."

"The force wants to make resetting phones more difficult, with requirements for multi-factor authentication and time delays; moves to stop parts being sold without device matching serial numbers, and the ability to block devices globally in real time."

The Metropolitan Police commissioner has issued a June 1 deadline for phone manufacturers to implement security measures against stolen devices or face legal enforcement. London experiences high rates of phone theft and personal robbery. The Met seeks multi-factor authentication requirements, time delays for device resets, prevention of parts sales without serial number matching, and real-time global device blocking capabilities. Despite nearly three years of engagement, manufacturers have not responded adequately to the scale of harm. The commissioner will request the Home Secretary legislate if industry does not commit to concrete solutions. London's mayor supports implementing accessible serial numbers and kill switches for stolen phones, noting the international stolen phone trade is worth millions of dollars.

Read at www.bbc.com