Nadrek (5/7/2012)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (5/7/2012)
Few, though some companies will do it in a relatively short time. An hour or so if you've lost control.
I assume that's at most an hour or so after you've both realized and reported you've lost control?
Yes, though in practice, I think most people that use their phones heavily know they've lost them quickly. Your scenario definitely means that a targeted attack will likely succeed, but in most cases, losses occur from random thievery or chance.
I've had more than a few friends realize their phone is gone inside minutes, and they spend tens of minutes (usually 30-40) looking for it before calling it in. Remote wipes occur relatively quickly, but it's a help desk ticket. It processes, and if it ever connects to the network, it's wiped.
Not perfect, but then most crimes aren't perfect either, and with a little protection, the casual problems are mostly handled.