Method and system for providing a honeypot mode for an electronic device

A method for surreptitiously tracking usage of a mobile communication electronic device, the electronic device being capable of communicating with at least one external system, the method comprising:

• providing the electronic device with a software environment having a normal mode of operation and a honeypot mode of operation and with a predetermined condition, wherein, in said normal mode of operation, said software environment provides a plurality of user-invokable operations, and wherein, in said honeypot mode of operation, said software environment provides at least one of said user-invokable operations;
• detecting, at the electronic device, the predetermined condition, wherein the predetermined condition includes receipt, from an external device, of a message including a honeypot-triggering command;
• authenticating the message to verify that the message is a legitimate honeypot-triggering command sent by an authorized sender;
• in response to the authentication of the message, switching the software environment to said honeypot mode of operation, wherein said step of switching includes moving data to a portion of memory that is inaccessible to all user-invokable operations while the electronic device is operating in said honeypot mode;
• and,
• when in said honeypot mode of operation the electronic device is enabled to automatically and surreptitiously send a usage report regarding an unauthorized usage of said at least one of said user-invokable operations to a predetermined external system.

A mobile communication electronic device, configured to enable surreptitious tracking of usage of the electronic device, the electronic device comprising:

• a communication subsystem for enabling communications with at least one external system;
• memory storing a software environment having a normal mode of operation and a honeypot mode of operation and storing a predetermined condition, wherein, in said normal mode of operation, said software environment provides a plurality of user-invokable operations, and wherein, in said honeypot mode of operation, said software environment provides at least one of said user-invokable operations;
• a processor for executing said software environment;
• and
• a mode-switch module for detecting the predetermined condition, wherein the predetermined condition includes receipt, from an external device, of a message including a honeypot-triggering command, authenticating the message to verify that the message is a legitimate honeypot-triggering command sent by an authorized sender, and, in response to the authentication of the message, switching the software environment to said honeypot mode of operation;
• wherein, when in said honeypot mode of operation, said software environment is enabled to automatically send a usage report regarding an unauthorized usage of said at least one of said user-invokable operations to a predetermined external system.

A mobile communication electronic device, configured to enable surreptitious tracking of usage of the electronic device, the electronic device comprising:

• a communication subsystem for enabling communications with at least one external system;
• memory storing a software environment having a normal mode of operation and a honeypot mode of operation and storing a predetermined condition, wherein, in said normal mode of operation, said software environment provides a plurality of user-invokable operations, and wherein, in said honeypot mode of operation, said software environment provides at least one of said user-invokable operations;
• a processor for executing said software environment;
• and
• a mode-switch module for detecting the predetermined condition, wherein the predetermined condition includes receipt, from an external device, of a message including a honeypot-triggering command, authenticating the message to verify that the message is a legitimate honeypot-triggering command sent by an authorized sender and, in response to the authentication of the message, switching the software environment to said honeypot mode of operation;
• wherein, when in said honeypot mode of operation, said software environment is enabled to automatically and surreptitiously send a usage report regarding an unauthorized usage of said at least one of said user-invokable operations to a predetermined external system;
• wherein said step of switching includes moving data to a portion of memory that is inaccessible to all user-invokable operations while the electronic device is operating in said honeypot mode;
• wherein the moving of data comprises moving data to a portion of memory that is inaccessible to all user-invokable operations while the electronic device is operating in said honeypot mode.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having encoded therein computer-executable instructions for surreptitiously tracking usage of a mobile communication electronic device, the electronic device being capable of communicating with at least one external system, the instructions comprising:

• instructions for providing the electronic device with a software environment having a normal mode of operation and a honeypot mode of operation and with a predetermined condition, wherein, in said normal mode of operation, said software environment provides a plurality of user-invokable operations, and wherein, in said honeypot mode of operation, said software environment provides at least one of said user-invokable operations;
• instructions for detecting, at the electronic device, the predetermined condition, wherein the predetermined condition includes receipt, from an external device, of a message including a honeypot-triggering command;
• instructions for authenticating the message to verify that the message is a legitimate honeypot-triggering command sent by an authorized sender;
• instructions for, in response to the authentication of the message, switching the software environment to said honeypot mode of operation;
• and
• instructions for, when in said honeypot mode of operation, automatically and surreptitiously sending a usage report regarding an unauthorized usage of said at least one of said user-invokable operations to a predetermined external system.