computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

, a kill pill is a mechanism or a technology designed to render

systems A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and is exp ...

useless either by user command, or under a predefined set of circumstances. Kill pill technology is most commonly used to disable lost or stolen devices for security purposes, but can also be used for the enforcement of rules and contractual obligations.

Applications

Lost and stolen devices

Kill pill technology is used prominently in

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s, especially in the disablement of lost or stolen devices. A notable example is Find My iPhone, a service that allows the user to

password A password, sometimes called a passcode, is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of password-protected services t ...

protect or wipe their iDevice(s) remotely, aiding in the protection of private data. Similar applications exist for other smartphone

operating systems An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

, including Android,

BlackBerry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

, and

Windows Phone Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design languag ...

Anti-piracy measure

Kill pill technology has been notably used as an

anti-piracy Anti-piracy may refer to: * Anti-piracy measures Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking ...

measure.

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

was released with the ability to severely limit its own functionality if it was determined that the copy was obtained through

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

. The feature was later dropped after complaints that

false positive A false positive is an error in binary classification in which a test result incorrectly indicates the presence of a condition (such as a disease when the disease is not present), while a false negative is the opposite error, where the test resu ...

s caused genuine copies of Vista to act as though they were pirated.

Removal of malicious software

The concept of a kill pill is also applied to the remote removal by a

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides requested information for other programs or devices, called clients. Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending custome ...

of malicious files or applications from a client's system. Such technology is a standard component of most handheld computing devices, mainly due to their generally more limited operating systems and means of obtaining applications. Such functionality is also reportedly available to applications downloaded from the

Windows Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...

Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via Microsoft ...

operating systems.

Vehicles

Kill pill technology is used frequently in

vehicles A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velomobiles), animal-powered tr ...

for a variety of reasons. Remote vehicle disablement can be used to prevent a vehicle from starting, to prevent it from moving, and to prevent the vehicle's continued operation. Non-remotely, vehicles can require driver recognition before starting or moving, such as asking for a password or some form of

biometrics Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used t ...

from the driver. Kill pill technology is often used by governments to prevent

drunk driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is in ...

by repeat offenders as a punishment and deterrent. The installation of an

ignition interlock device An ignition interlock device or breath alcohol ignition interlock device (IID or BAIID) is a breathalyzer for an individual's vehicle. It requires the driver to blow into a mouthpiece on the device before starting or continuing to operate the veh ...

s is a sentencing alternative for drunk drivers in almost all 50 of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Such a device requires the driver to blow into a

breathalyzer A breathalyzer or breathalyser (a portmanteau of ''breath'' and ''analyzer/analyser''), also called an alcohol meter, is a device for measuring breath alcohol (drug), alcohol content (BrAC). It is commonly utilized by law enforcement officers ...

before starting the vehicle. If the driver is found to be over the legal

blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes. BAC is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume of blood. In US and many i ...

limit, the vehicle will not start

Other uses

Kill pill technology can also be implemented to contextually disable certain aspects of a smartphone's functionality. A patent obtained by

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

claims the ability to disable the antenna, screen, or camera of a smartphone in settings like theaters, schools, and areas of high security sensitivity.

Criticism

Kill pill technology has been criticized for allowing for the suppression of personal liberties. While a kill pill can be utilized in a school setting to prevent academic dishonesty, it has been suggested that governments may also use it to suppress their people, for example, by disabling a phone's camera or antenna in the area of a protest. The ability to remotely remove files and applications from a user's device has also come under fire. Apple's apparent ability to

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

applications, rendering them unusable on any iDevice, has raised concerns about the user's rights when downloading from the

App Store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...

. As of July 2014, no applications appear on Apple's blacklist website.

References

{{reflist

External links

Apple's blacklist of applications
Cybersecurity engineering