A cell phone with suitable software already installed on it could do any or all the things McAfee describes in response to an SMS message. I used to do support for corporate software that could do things like lock or wipe the phone by SMS command. Incidentally, all cell phones continue to receive SMS messages as long as they have power, even when switched off. As many current phones have copied Apple's mistake of making batteries fixed in place, it is difficult to power a phone down. If there is software that takes orders by SMS, it will obey when the phone is turned back on.
