I’ve Lost My Work Mobile Device… What Should I Do Next?

Losing your work mobile devices is an expensive inconvenience. Apart from putting the company in a situation where it records additional costs in purchasing new work devices, it also poses an enormous threat to digital security. 

The thief in possession of your work phone or laptop can either be a petty thief who wants to make some quick money or a skilled thief who understands how to crack device passwords to get at the data.

Whatever be the reason for the theft, a missing device with access to business data is costly. It’s not the cost of the device that is most expensive, it’s the prospect of a data breach or compliance violation. If the device hasn’t been properly protected with encryption or other cybersecurity best practices, it can leave sensitive data exposed and result in a network breach.

If you find your work mobile device has gone missing, here are some of the immediate steps you can take to mitigate the risk.  

6 Important Steps to Protect Data When Your Mobile Work Device Is
Missing

Change Your Passwords

As soon as you realize your work mobile device is missing, change all account passwords, especially those to email or cloud storage. This is a piece of professional advice many IT experts recommend. The reason is that if anyone has access to your password, the person can easily log into your online accounts.

Cybercriminals can go through your email accounts to access your various accounts. Your email should be the first place you visit as soon as you know the work device is missing. It is at this point you want to activate two-factor authentication if you haven’t done it already.

Deauthorize Your Device

You can also revoke your phone or laptop access to online services. This will turn off every auto-sync feature that has been established with the device. It will help to prevent your information from being accessed by the fraudster. 

Track the Device’s Location

If you feel the device may simply be misplaced or left behind in a restaurant or taxi, you can use the “find/track my device” feature available in many mobile operating systems to see where it may be. However, this can only be used if it has previously been enabled, and if the device has location services turned on. The device also needs to be connected to the internet.

If the device is in an unfamiliar location, it’s best to alert authorities, as you don’t want to walk into a fencing operation by mistake.

Inform Your Financial Institution 

Losing your mobile work device is similar to losing your wallet. Treats it just as if your wallet with all your credit cards was missing. Many people use mobile wallets these days, so essentially, the mobile device is their credit or debit card.

You can freeze your cards and inform your bank to alert you if there is a suspicious attempt on your account. You can also protect yourself by checking online banking.

However, even if you can completely freeze your credit records if you have left essential details
of your finances on the device, such as bank account numbers, social security numbers, and
even tax return information, you could still suffer serious financial losses.

Inform Your Employer

The thought of potentially getting into trouble may stall employees from immediately reporting a work device missing, but it’s critical that you do. Often businesses will have mobile device management and other policies in place to mitigate the cybersecurity risk of a lost device.

But these measures can only be implemented if your employer knows that the device is missing. If you wait too long to report it, then those security measures may be too late to prevent a breach.

File a Report With the Police 

You may not see the need to make a report at the police station. But this can be helpful in the rare case that the device is recovered later in the bust of a theft ring. A found device could be returned to you if the police have your information and the device’s serial number. 

If you are making an insurance claim for a lost device, it’s also helpful to have a police report to prove the validity of your claim.

How To Protect Data When Mobile Work Devices Get Lost

You’re already aware that when your work devices go missing, you’ll go through a lot of emotional and physical trauma in trying to recover your information. To avoid getting in this tight situation, you should do what you can to prevent a breach.

So, how do you control and protect your data even when your mobile devices get lost?

• Write down the serial number of your laptops or phones
• Protect mobile devices with a strong password
• Enforce limits that will cause your mobile devices to shut down after multiple failed login
  attempts
• Back up your devices automatically
• Encrypt laptop hard drives

Need Help with Mobile Device Security?

You can’t always control when and where your mobile work devices get lost. But you can put protections in place to reduce the consequences. 

Contact Unbound Digital at 423-467-7777 or reach out online to discuss mobile device security solutions.