How to Remote Wipe Android Phones or Tablets

The Android proliferation in the corporate environment is real, more and more Android smartphones, tablets, rugged devices, and special-purpose devices are used in the enterprise environment for several business purposes across diverse industries. As Android devices enjoy huge popularity in the work environment, it is also critical to ensure that these devices are managed to maintain device performance, data security, and business continuity.

When we discuss mobility, it is also important to consider the growing amount of personal devices running Android OS used for work. When Android devices are used for work purposes, they contain sensitive information and business data that needs to be safeguarded at all times. In this article, let us learn how to wipe android phone remotely to handle threats to corporate data on company-owned as well as employee-owned devices.

How Important is Remote Wipe Android Phones?

As enterprises provision corporate as well as BYO Android devices to accelerate employee productivity and business growth, the most critical risk factors are device and data security. These Android devices hold valuable business data that businesses cannot afford to be tampered with.

Enterprises can enforce several security measures on company-owned devices that are managed using Kiosk Mode in Android to ensure that the data is not breached, such as preventing app installation for protection against malware or blocking access to malicious websites, etc.

But yet, there are a few risk factors that can hamper the security of corporate data. The corporate data on the Android devices used for work is at risk when:

• The device is stolen or lost, increasing the urgency to promptly erase lost Android phones or wipe stolen Android phones. When the device is no longer in the possession of the employee, it is prone to misuse, unauthorized access by illicit means that are difficult to predict.
• When the employees are no longer associated with the organization and their personal devices, contain work profiles with business apps and data.

In such cases, the most urgent and crucial action to be taken to protect corporate data is a remote wipe-off.

What is Remote Wiping?

Remote wipe-off is remotely wiping off or deleting the corporate data on your device used for work that is lost or stolen. Wipe-off not only erases phone data remotely on device storage but also wipes off the data on the business apps as well as the business apps on the device. Scalefusion helps in securing corporate data on managed Android devices with a set of features that collectively help in remotely wiping off the business data and apps.

How to Remotely Wipe Your Android Devices: Step-wise Guide

Scalefusion offers extensive policy settings to protect corporate data from your phone, device operations, and functions using various management modes such as Android Kiosk mode, single app mode, etc. On corporate-owned devices, IT admins can erase all Android data, apps, and settings on compromised devices by factory resetting Android remotely when locked. This ensures that the device is factory data reset and all the corporate data on it is erased. This ensures that Android smartphone data is not available for misuse.

To remotely wipe all the data from corporate devices, navigate to the Devices section of the dashboard. And click on Device details to remotely erase device data and apps.

To quickly detect security threats and protect corporate data on company-owned devices, explore How to Protect Corporate Data on Lost Phone / Stolen Devices.

How Does Remote Wipe on Android Works on Employee-owned Devices/ BYOD:

On employee-owned devices, companies cannot enforce a Factory reset on your phone since the device also contains employees’ personal data, settings, and apps. Especially when the IT teams want to erase corporate data remotely from the devices of employees who are no longer associated with the organization, they have to be extra vigilant to not impact employees’ personal data during the activity.

Scalefusion Android MDM Solutions helps selectively erase corporate apps and data on employee-owned devices remotely from the dashboard without affecting the personal data of the employees in multiple ways. It basically wipes off the work profile on Android BYO devices.

How to Wipe or Reset Android Phone Remotely Works

To remotely wipe Android phones or reset Android phones remotely, in case the device is lost or stolen, follow these steps:

Step 1: While creating a BYOD device profile, configure work profile settings, and navigate to the Work Profile Password settings under the restrictions tab. Enable Work Profile Password. This will ensure that whether or not employees set a password for their devices, the work container will be accessible only using a password. Make sure to enforce a complex password.

Step 2: Now configure the password management settings. You can set a password expiry period and history list. Ensure that you set an idle auto-lock or inactivity so that the work container is automatically locked after a certain period. And now, set the number of failed attempts to reset. After the stipulated number of failed password attempts, the device will be remotely wiped-off by removing the work profile. Note that this will not factory reset your device but will only remove the work apps and all work data from your Android Phone.

Erase Android Phone Remotely when the employee is no longer associated with the organization:

The remote wipe-off process for BYO devices is similar to that of corporate-owned devices, except that it remotely wipes off only work apps and data, and the employee device continues to function as is.

For this, navigate to the Devices section on the Scalefusion dashboard. And select the Android device that you want to remotely wipe. Click on Delete device (This we’ll delete Android phone). The work apps and the data will be deleted.

Conclusion

Scalefusion ensures corporate data security with its extensive security features. With remote wipe-off, the corporate data on stolen, lost Android devices, as well as retired old Android devices, can be remotely deleted, irrespective of mobile device ownership.

FAQs

1. Can you wipe an Android phone from a computer?

To remotely wipe an Android phone from a computer:

• Sign in to Google’s Find My Device website.
• Select the device you want to erase.
• Click “Erase Device” to wipe all data.
• Alternatively, some third-party security apps offer similar features. Ensure you’re logged in to the respective app’s website and follow instructions to wipe the device remotely.
• For larger device fleets, using an Android MDM solution can also help wipe data from lost or stolen devices.

2. Can someone delete messages from my phone remotely?

Yes, someone with access to your Google account can remotely delete messages from your Android phone using Google’s Find My Device feature. They would need to sign in to the Find My Device website with your Google account credentials, select your device, and then choose the option to erase the device remotely. This would delete all data on your phone, including messages. It’s important to keep your Google account secure to prevent unauthorized access.

3. Is remote wiping a great way to erase data?

Yes, remote wiping is a powerful security feature of any Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution. It allows IT admins to remotely delete all corporate data from a lost or stolen device, protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access. Think of it as a self-destruct button for your company data on the device.