A mobile terminal and protection method for the same are disclosed. The mobile terminal includes: a wireless communication unit receiving first authentication information and identification information during an initial setting mode; a memory unit, having at least two authentication regions to register the received first authentication information and second authentication information derived from the first authentication information, and registering the received identification information; a comparator comparing, upon power on, the first and second authentication information to each other; and a control unit controlling an operation to perform communication using the identification information when the first and second authentication information match, and to set a lock function when the first and second authentication information do not match. Thus, when the mobile terminal is stolen, new identification information is not registered and existing identification information is not changed, contributing to solving the problem of lost or stolen mobile terminals.