Hadlee Simons / Android Authority TL;DR Remote Lock lets you remotely secure a lost or stolen phone. So far, all you’ve needed to activate it was your phone number — so anyone who knew it could potentially lock your phone. That’s now slightly more secure with the addition of an optional security question. Google offers plenty of automatic ways to try and limit your exposure when someone takes off with your smartphone. Features like Theft Detection use sensors to know when a thief grabs your phone and makes a break for it, while Offline Device Lock prevents a thief from using a lack of connectivity to give them more time with an unlocked handset. Android also has some useful manual tools, like Remote Lock, and that one’s finally getting an important upgrade. Don’t want to miss the best from Android Authority? Set us as a favorite source in Google Discover to support us and make sure you never miss our latest exclusive reports, expert analysis, and much more. You can also set us as a preferred source in Google Search — find out more here. Remote Lock was built to address an important need: Someone steals your device, but you don’t immediately have access to another device where you’re signed into your account to use the Find Hub and its security tools. And if you’re using 2FA like you should, signing into a new device without your phone could be a little tricky. With Remote Lock turned on, all you need is your phone number and a web browser — you just go to android.com/lock and enter your number to secure your device. While that makes for an effective solution, it also presents the opportunity for abuse: What’s stopping anybody else from putting your number in there and locking up your phone? Google does not employ a bunch of dummies, and its developers have clearly been aware of this vulnerability, working on adding security questions to Remote Lock since earlier this year. While a lot less robust than a full account login, requiring a basic security question in addition to your device’s phone number drastically lowers the exposure here, and should stop all but the most dedicated griefers. After confirming its intent to bring security questions to Remote Lock back at Google I/O in May, the company is finally delivering with the release of version 25.38.60 of Google Play Services. As Google details on its support page for Remote Lock, using one of these security questions is totally optional, and you can choose to allow Remote Lock to secure your device with just a phone number alone. If you do want to use a security question, you’ll have to pick from one of Google’s pre-selected options — of course, the answer is totally up to you. We’re also happy to see that Google has updated the notification that you’ll see on a device that has been secured with Remote Lock, letting you know about the existence of this new security question option if someone is indeed messing with you. Follow