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Anchor>> Rochester police say three out of every four thefts here - involve smart hones.
Federal lawmakers are now pushing a new law which would force phone companies to equip
phones with a kill switch - rendering them useless if they are lost or stolen. 13WHAM's
Jane Flasch is here to explain how it works - and why some manufactures and carriers are
resisting the change. Reporter>>Well Doug, Samsung stood alone - the
first company to want to make a kill switch a standard feature. But carriers say it isn't
the answer because your phone would be more vulnerable to hackers. If this legislation
takes hold though - they may not have a choice. Last year alone Rochester police took 13 hundred
reports of cell phone thefts. The thefts are becoming increasingly more violent - in one
case for example - three suspects were accused of beating a U of R student during the robbery.
And this man - who asked us not to use his name or identify his store - told 13 WHAM
News why "apple picking" is so prevalent. Vendor>> If someone can't use it in America
they can use it over seas. Reporter>> Last year - New York's Attorney
General called for phone manufactures to voluntarily add a kill switch to every phone - now he
backs legislation making it mandatory. Schneiderman>> Today in the United States 1 in 3 robberies
and thefts involves a smart phone Reporter>>A kill switch not only wipes phone
clean - but shuts it down. Nick>> You actually prevent everything from
working. You can't even turn it on. Its useful for nothing.
Reporter>> Yet carriers like Sprint and Verizon argue if your phone has a kill switch - it
could easily be intercepted and shut down by hackers. Experts at RIT's department of
Computing & Security agree that's potential problem. And they say even phones that have
been shut down - have a black market value overseas.
Tom>> There isn't a 100 percent secure. There are sophisticated hackers who can find a software
solution to get around that. Nick>> For the causal thief this will stop
them - nothing stops professional thieves anyway really. But 99 percent of the theft
of cell phones is casual theft. Reporter>>As of last november - stolen phones
could be reported to a registry - and remotely disabled b the carrier. That data base does
not impact those overseas black market sales for cell phones. A bill has been introduced
in both the house and senate.