New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is putting the pressure on wireless carriers in his effort to require anti-theft measures be added to all smartphones. Schneiderman is sending letters to the nation’s largest wireless carriers regarding the industry’s decision to prohibit Samsung from pre-loading a kill switch application, which would allow a device to be activated remotely after a smart phone is stolen, and render the phone permanently inoperable. Schneiderman wants to have all smart phones come with an application similar to the one developed by Samsung, to help cut down on violent smart phone theft, which he described as an epidemic across the country. According to reports, there was a 40 percent spike last year in cell phone thefts across New York State.
