Sending commands to a lost or stolen mobile device

To protect data on a mobile device that is lost or stolen, you can send special commands.

You can send commands to the following types of managed mobile devices:

Android devices managed via the Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Android app
iOS MDM devices

Each device type supports a dedicated set of commands (see the tables below).

Commands for Android devices

Commands for protecting data on a lost or stolen Android device

Command	Command execution result
Lock	The mobile device is locked. To obtain access to data, you must unlock the device.
Unlock	The mobile device is unlocked. After unlocking a device running Android 5.0 – 6, the screen unlock password is reset to "1234". After unlocking a device running Android 7.0 or later, the screen unlock password is not changed.
Locate device	The mobile device's location coordinates are obtained. On devices running Android 12 or later, if the user granted the "Use approximate location" permission, the Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Android app first tries to get the precise device location. If this is not successful, the approximate device location is returned only if it was received not more than 30 minutes earlier. Otherwise, the Locate device command fails. The Locate device command does not work on Android devices if Google Location Accuracy is disabled in settings. Please be aware that not all Android devices come with this location setting.
Mugshot	The mobile device is locked. The mugshot photo is taken by the front camera of the device when somebody attempts to unlock the device. On devices with a pop-up front camera, the photo will be black if the camera is stowed. When attempting to unlock the device, the user automatically consents to the mugshot. If the permission to use the camera has been revoked, the mobile device displays a notification and prompts to provide the permission. On a mobile device running Android 12 or later, if the permission to use camera has been revoked via Quick Settings, the notification is not displayed but the photo taken is black.
Alarm	The mobile device sounds an alarm. The alarm is sounded for 5 minutes (or for 1 minute if the device battery is low).
Wipe app data	The data of a specified app is wiped from the mobile device. The action is only applicable to devices running Android 9 or later in device owner mode or with created Android work profile. For this action, you need to specify the package name for the app whose data is to be deleted. How to get the package name of an app As a result, the app is rolled back to its default state. The data of system and administrative apps is not wiped. To get the package name of an app: Open Google Play. Find the required app and open its page. The app's URL ends with its package name (for example, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android.chrome). To get the package name of an app that has been added to Kaspersky Security Center: In the console tree of Kaspersky Security Center go to Advanced > Remote installation > Installation packages. Click the Additional actions button and select Manage mobile apps packages in the drop-down list. In the Mobile apps package management window that opens, identifiers of managed apps are displayed in the Application name column. If you have an app package as an APK file and want to know the app identifier, you can add the app package to the Mobile apps package management window by clicking the New button and following the on-screen instructions.
Wipe data of all apps	The data of all apps is wiped from the mobile device. The action is only applicable to devices running Android 9 or later in device owner mode or with created Android work profile. If the device works in device owner mode, data of all apps on the device is wiped. If Android work profile is created on the device, data of all apps in the work profile is wiped. As a result, apps are rolled back to their default state. The data of system and administrative apps is not wiped.
Wipe corporate data	The corporate data is wiped from the device. The list of wiped data depends on the mode in which the device operates: On a personal device, KNOX container and mail certificate are wiped. If the device operates in device owner mode, KNOX container and the certificates installed by Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Android (mail, VPN, and SCEP profile certificates, except the mobile certificates) are wiped. Additionally, if Android work profile is created, the work profile (its content, configurations, and restrictions) and the certificates installed in the work profile (mail, VPN, and SCEP profile certificates, except the mobile certificates) are wiped.
Reset to factory settings	All data is deleted from the mobile device and the settings are rolled back to their factory values. After this command is executed, the device will not be able to receive or execute subsequent commands.
Get device location history	The mobile device's location history for the last 14 days is displayed. This command works only if the Device location history informational event type is stored in the Administration Server database. The events are configured in the Events section of the policy properties. For more details, please refer to the Kaspersky Security Center Help. Due to technical limitations on Android devices, the device location may be retrieved less often than specified in the Synchronization section of the policy properties.

Commands for iOS MDM devices

Commands for protecting data on a lost or stolen iOS MDM device

Command	Command execution result
Lock	The mobile device is locked. To obtain access to data, you must unlock the device.
Reset password	The mobile device's screen unlock password is reset, and the user is prompted to set a new password in accordance with policy requirements.
Wipe corporate data	All installed configuration profiles, provisioning profiles, the iOS MDM profile, and applications for which the Remove together with iOS MDM profile check box has been selected are removed from the device.
Reset to factory settings	All data is deleted from the mobile device and the settings are rolled back to their factory values. After this command is executed, the device will not be able to receive or execute subsequent commands.
Enable Lost Mode (supervised only)	Lost Mode is enabled on the supervised mobile device, and the device is locked. The device screen shows the message and phone number that you can edit. If you send the Enable Lost Mode command to a supervised iOS MDM device without a SIM card and this device is restarted, the device won't be able to connect to Wi-Fi and receive the Disable Lost Mode command. This is a specific feature of iOS devices. To avoid this issue, you can either send the command only to devices with a SIM card, or insert a SIM card into the locked device to allow it to receive the Disable Lost Mode command over the mobile network.
Locate device (supervised only)	The location of the mobile device is obtained. You can click the link in the command log to view device coordinates and check the device location on a map. This command is supported only for supervised devices that are in Lost Mode.
Play sound (supervised only)	The sound is played on the lost mobile device. This command is supported only for supervised devices that are in Lost Mode.
Disable Lost Mode (supervised only)	Lost Mode is disabled on the mobile device, and the device is unlocked. This command is supported only for supervised devices.

Special rights and permissions are required for the execution of commands of Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Android. When the Initial Configuration Wizard is running, Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Android prompts the user to grant the application all required rights and permissions. The user can skip these steps or disable these permissions in the device settings at a later time. If this is the case, it will be impossible to execute commands.

On devices running Android 10 or later, the user must grant the "All the time" permission to access the location. On devices running Android 11 or later, the user must also grant the "While using the app" permission to access camera. Otherwise, Anti-Theft commands will not function. The user will be notified of this limitation and will again be prompted to grant the permissions of required level. If the user selects the "Only this time" option for the camera permission, access is considered granted by the app. It is recommended to contact the user directly if the Camera permission is requested again.

For the complete list of available commands, please refer to the "Commands for mobile devices" section. To learn more about sending commands from Administration Console, please refer to the "Sending commands" section.

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