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What are some steps to take into account to protect an Android phone in case of theft?

Smartphones are everywhere now, before the market was dominated by Blackberry and Windows Mobile. These days more and more companies are adopting Android, Windows Phone and iPhone instead. People carry a lot of information on their phones, often confidential data that was distributed through email.

How can one protect from leaking this business critical data in case of theft? Meaning: remote whiping or encryption of all data on the phone so that a thief cannot access this data anymore.

Lucas Kauffman
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  • There's also some questions tagged "[security](http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/security)" and/or "[encryption](http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/encryption)" over at the Android Stack Exchange. –  Sep 04 '12 at 19:45
  • You should also have a look on the OS itself. When it constantly backups your data to wherever (e.g. Google), the files are already gone when the phone gets stolen. I recommend to have a look at the Cyanogen Mod -- a open source, Google-free Android (including full device encryption). – Suuuehgi Apr 26 '15 at 12:59
  • I use this and love it. Avast uses root privileged access to secure data https://www.avast.com/en-us/anti-theft – Bryan May 17 '16 at 17:36

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Since Ice Cream Sandwhich, Android devices support full disk encryption. This is based on dm-crypt and requires password or pin to unlock your phone. While users may find this irritating (the swipe method is not supported), it is a tradeoff you will need to consider to keep your info safe.

Apps that can whipe data or more:

Email clients that encrypt your email:

Lucas Kauffman
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    Lookout Mobile Security also works well for providing remote lock, wipe, locations and scream functionality. That's what I personally use. – AJ Henderson Sep 04 '12 at 18:02