Patent ID: 8620266

Claim:
A mobile communications device for communicating with a wireless network, comprising: an electronic storage haying data stored thereon; a processor coupled to the storage for accessing the data; a communications sub-system coupled to the processor for exchanging signals with the wireless network and with the processor; a user input interface configured to send user input signals to the processor in response to user action; and a security module that configures the processor to: monitor for an expiration of a duration of time during which the device has been out of communication with the wireless network; and upon expiration of the duration of time, when a successful user authentication at the device does not occur within a fuse time following the expiration of the duration of time during which the device has been out of communication with the wireless network, perform a security action in which all or part of the data from the storage is at least one of erased and encrypted, and when the successful user authentication occurs at the device within the fuse time following the expiration of the duration of time during which the device has been out of communication with the wireless network, continue processing without performing the security action in which all or part of the data from the storage is at least one of erased and encrypted.