Patent ID: 7421589

Claim:
A method of securing data stored on a first electronic device, the electronic device adapted to communicate with a second electronic device, the first electronic device including an application containing at least one preprogrammed security features and having set therein an activation interval and a grace period, wherein the activation interval is a non-zero period and the grace period is a non-zero period, the method comprising the steps of: automatically setting, upon communication between the first electronic device and the second electronic device, an activation timer within the first electronic device; at a point in time subsequent to the automatically setting, determining that the activation interval has elapsed based upon the activation timer; subsequent to the elapsing of the activation interval, automatically setting a grace timer within the first electronic device; if, prior to the grace period elapsing, communication is established between the first electronic device and the second electronic device, re-setting the activation timer within the first electronic device based upon a signal from the second electronic device; and if communication is not established between the first electronic device and the second electronic device prior to the grace period elapsing: determining that the grace period has elapsed based upon the grace timer; and initiating the at least one preprogrammed security feature, wherein the at least one preprogrammed security feature is a sequence of security features, one of the at least one preprogrammed security features is the destruction of electronic data on the first electronic device and the destruction includes the steps of: determining a size of the electronic data; creating a set of random data, wherein the size of the set of random data is equal to the size of the electronic data: overwriting the electronic data with the set of random data; and repeating a selected number of times, the steps of creating a set of random data and overwriting the electronic data.