Which of the following would be the BEST means of maintaining data security for a mobile device that has been lost or stolen?

Login attempt restrictions limit brute-force access but do not prevent a sophisticated attacker from bypassing the lock screen or extracting data from the storage chip directly.

A locator service helps physically recover the device but does nothing to protect the data from someone who already has possession of it.

Remote wipe sends a command over the network to the lost device, triggering a factory reset that erases all user data, credentials, and applications. Unlike other controls that merely slow down an attacker, remote wipe eliminates the data itself, ensuring that even if the device is never recovered, sensitive information cannot be extracted. This is the definitive data security solution for a mobile device that is no longer under physical control.

A passcode lock creates a barrier to access but can potentially be bypassed and does not destroy the underlying data if circumvented.