Right now it looks like Cerberus is still great - or should we take a good look at Avast and Kaspersky as well?
Prey got a lot of press hype, but it seems like on android it can't take pictures of the thief? Can cerberus be forced to use the front camera?
Confirmed that Cerberus can take pictures with the front camera. I tested it when I first installed it and it works very well. It even flashes to a bright white screen for a second in case of low light conditions.
Try Androidlost.
I found it much, much better.
Romonster said:
Try Androidlost.
I found it much, much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he said
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
Romonster said:
Try Androidlost.
I found it much, much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. So you would say this is better than Cerberus? In which ways?
1. It's absolutely free.
2. Uses your Google account, no need to create another account for app and no battery drain.
3. More features- pull last 50 messages and browse/download/delete sdcard contents remotely.
Considering I got Cerberos for free during their giveaway, it's serving me very well. I particularly like the five devices I can track with it; makes me feel better about taking both my phone and tablet into public.
How effective are anti-theft apps?
Do any of these anti-theft apps prevent a factory reset or a ROM flash?
Have any independent comparisons been published?
How does SamsungDive compare to the likes of Prey et al?
I think Avast Mobile Security is a pretty good bet, allows SMS only management, and system installation so goes to the rom.
Respect to flashing the device, I think regardless on any anti theft software (cerberus, androidlost, avast mobile security) you can start the device in Recovery mode and flash a new rom, wipe cache & data and such. That is because the recovery prevails over the operating system because loads first when demanded.
AndroidLost
Win
HairyScot said:
Do any of these anti-theft apps prevent a factory reset or a ROM flash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
scandiun said:
I think Avast Mobile Security is a pretty good bet, allows SMS only management, and system installation so goes to the rom.
Respect to flashing the device, I think regardless on any anti theft software (cerberus, androidlost, avast mobile security) you can start the device in Recovery mode and flash a new rom, wipe cache & data and such. That is because the recovery prevails over the operating system because loads first when demanded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With Avast if you allow its root options you can set the phone so that it CANNOT be data reset from the phone menus or recovery. It can block USB Debugging as well so that the phone cannot be wiped and reset that way either. You can also set Anti-Theft as an app with Admin permissions so that it cannot be uninstalled, not to mention it will run in stealth mode when active so that it doesn't appear in your apps list at all. It is also separate from the Anti-virus portion so you can uninstall that and there would be no way to tell the Anti-theft is even present on the phone.
It is amazing that it's still free, but as Avast! stated they make their money off of their PC utilities and plan to keep it free.
MissionImprobable said:
With Avast if you allow its root options you can set the phone so that it CANNOT be data reset from the phone menus or recovery. It can block USB Debugging as well so that the phone cannot be wiped and reset that way either. You can also set Anti-Theft as an app with Admin permissions so that it cannot be uninstalled, not to mention it will run in stealth mode when active so that it doesn't appear in your apps list at all. It is also separate from the Anti-virus portion so you can uninstall that and there would be no way to tell the Anti-theft is even present on the phone.
It is amazing that it's still free, but as Avast! stated they make their money off of their PC utilities and plan to keep it free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean the phone won't enter on recovery holding power+volup+menu? And that there won't be the option to install update from sdcard?
MissionImprobable said:
With Avast if you allow its root options you can set the phone so that it CANNOT be data reset from the phone menus or recovery. It can block USB Debugging as well so that the phone cannot be wiped and reset that way either. You can also set Anti-Theft as an app with Admin permissions so that it cannot be uninstalled, not to mention it will run in stealth mode when active so that it doesn't appear in your apps list at all. It is also separate from the Anti-virus portion so you can uninstall that and there would be no way to tell the Anti-theft is even present on the phone.
It is amazing that it's still free, but as Avast! stated they make their money off of their PC utilities and plan to keep it free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
scandiun said:
Do you mean the phone won't enter on recovery holding power+volup+menu? And that there won't be the option to install update from sdcard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since I have paid for Avast! on my PC maybe I should use it for my Android devices.
Would be interesting to verify if it can prevent flashing etc.
HairyScot said:
Since I have paid for Avast! on my PC maybe I should use it for my Android devices.
Would be interesting to verify if it can prevent flashing etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, there is no such hardware locking ability on some devices, at least in my SGS2 there is no way to prevent flashing.
does this thing really work? just a newbie here.
You can install cerberus on to the root of your phone to gain two additional features that will result in cerberus still being installed even after a delete/wipe.
Link to cerberus q&a HERE
Just expand the "I have a rooted device. Can I get additional features?" topic and follow instructions
Remember when un-installing cerberus to uninstall it the proper way to avoid problems when flashing it to root, open the app login and disable admin then uninstall
ill have to check that out
Thing is if you lose your phone the best you can hope for is a quick lock via a website to track it down or protect your data (which will already be backed up)
As long as you can secure the phone and data then how much do you really want to catch a thief?
Will check these out though as being able to lock the phone down and ensure it has to be reflashed is good, but unless you use encryption not sure how any of these can really protect the data?
scandiun said:
Do you mean the phone won't enter on recovery holding power+volup+menu? And that there won't be the option to install update from sdcard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was still able to wipe data and cache after I sent a text to set it as lost, but once the phone restarted the Anti-theft app was still active so that aspect that is common to Cerberus still works at least. I'm about to see if it survives RSD.
Edit: Alrighty. As stated Anti-theft survived wipe/reset so that part holds true, and RSD is unable to function so it is preventing USB debugging access. The only thing that shows that anything out of the ordinary is going on is that you have the option to set one app as admin and it does not appear with the rest of your apps in the app drawer, but as you can name it anything that you want only someone very familiar with Avast/Cerberus would have any reason to suspect that it's an anti-theft app.
One thing that may give it away that the phone is being tracked is that an SMS goes to the device saying that it has been marked lost and depending on your network and when the thief powers off the phone it still may show up in the inbox and they could see it. Considering that many thieves may switch SIMs as soon as they get the phone though, this should be a non-issue and is covered by the forwarding and SIM-tracking portions of the App.
I would like to play with all this further, but as of now it appears that Avast pretty much performs as promised and your phone will still be trackable even if someone does a battery pull and reset. You will have to send an additional Lost SMS if you wish to lock the phone again, but you can send your other commands: SIREN ON, LOCATE, etc and it the phone will react appropriately. The LOCATE command will give you the owner name, Cell ID, Carrier, and new ID. If they change SIM cards the new SIM info will be forwarded to the two numbers you chose as friends during setup. You can do a test to make sure they'll get the message, but I would like to actually try this but my phone is CDMA only so I can't vet that out.
Declaring lost does Automatically power WIFI, GPS, and Data back on as promised. I apparently misspoke about being able to prevent access to recovery. When locked it is impossible to access the system menus on the phone, but as noted it can be wiped and reset from recovery though Avast will survive this and it looks like Cerberus should as well since it utilizes a similar method.
Don't know how much more to ask for from an anti-theft app, especially a free one. The only nice addition would be being able to lock recovery the way you can BIOS, though this may make a savvy thief more likely to toss the phone so maybe it's a good thing that they would be able to flash a new Rom via SD and the phone could still be tracked with them none the wiser.
---------- Post added at 03:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:14 AM ----------
Doallyn said:
Thing is if you lose your phone the best you can hope for is a quick lock via a website to track it down or protect your data (which will already be backed up)
As long as you can secure the phone and data then how much do you really want to catch a thief?
Will check these out though as being able to lock the phone down and ensure it has to be reflashed is good, but unless you use encryption not sure how any of these can really protect the data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All my important data is backed up so that I'm not worried about. As to the thief bit, this app is great. When it becomes clear to thieves that stealing a phone will at best result in them getting a GPS tracker that they need to toss and at worse give them something that actually lands them in jail then thefts will certainly drop off. Apps like this and Cerberus will make phone theft something that's benefits certainly do not outweigh the potential costs.
The reason Avast and Cerberus (or just any other system app) survives a wipe/factory reset is because they are in the System folder... all those apps aren't deleted when you perform a wipe...
But sure enough, if the thief flashes a new ROM from recovery then all apps are gone, nothing will survive that!
Anyway, Avast seems to be the way to go since is free ;-)
Hello all
As someone handling sensitive information, I would like to investigate the security Android is dealing with.
First of all I got scared when I bought the app called SQLite Editor. It had all of my most vital passwords just stored in plain text. What I did immediately was a format of both internal and SD card as a reaction. However, I couldn't even find a feature to secure wipe the internal memory, while I've DBAN'd the SD card 7x.
So my thought was, I have to encrypt it. ICS seems to have a nice feature for that, however, it doesn't kind of work for me. I'm currently on cm-9.0.0-rc1-tinystream-hephappy-p500 (RC1-Rev.B). I went to Security in System Settings and touched "Encrypt Device". It gave some confirmations and I've accepted them however, now I'm kind of stuck on this screen.
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My first thought was "it is encrypting". But after hours of waiting, I wanted to check if it's done already. So I clicked the power-button once (just to unlock) and it asked for my password. I've entered it and it just went into my normal launcher. I've checked if anything had changed and no, my device has not been encrypted. Any logs somewhere? Any ideas what could have caused the problem?
Beside that, I asked myself the question "how secure is my Google account". As I am not planning to store any password to my device anymore, I am still connected to my Google account. I have DroidWall blocking all connections (except for my OpenVPN one).
Now my question is, what if my phone gets stolen. Does my SD-card contain any sensitive data, that's the first question. I am using LINK2SD to put everything on my SD card by the way. What security does Android use to connect to my Google account? If the thief turns on wifi and starts sniffing what data passes, what exactly would a hacker be able to sniff from me? Even then, my contacts contain valuable information. If my phone gets stolen, a hacker could simply steal all of my contacts, can't he?
Does someone have any idea to secure my phone? To connect to the internet I have OpenVPN working and blocking other connections with DroidWall. So the real case is, the data on my phone itself. Even if I use a anti-theft tool from the market and do a remote factory reset, the thief would still be able to use a datarecovery tool and so I would be screwed...
Another question: is it possible to combine a password lock and a slide lockscreen? As when I now enter my password and then put my phone in my pocket, it automaticly presses lots of things I don't want to press as there is no lockscreen for 30 minutes (I made the modification to the settings as my password is very long and I don't want to re-enter it each time). It would be perfect if a password lock would be on there to boot the phone (and even better to decrypt it) and every next time without rebooting the phone getting a patern unlock, that would be great.
So, if you can add anything usefull about securing or what security Android uses, please let me know.
Thank you very much
PS: One completely different question: does someone know why my phone boots when I plug it in to a charger? I don't like that, I want to charge without booting.
Encrypting the device will just make your device request a password each time you power it on. Since you securely erased your SD card (7x), it'll be somewhat difficult to recover those files. Just to be sure though, you could erase it using 35x (you may also want to defrag any files first). Your device connects to your Google account using a secure connection (more detailed here: https://developers.google.com/secure-data-connector/docs/1.3/security). If your contacts were synced with your Google account, it'll be ridiculously easy for anyone to access them (as long as your device is still linked to your account). So yes, a hacker could gain access (you wouldn't even need to be a hacker to do it; It's that simple).
This is quite a useful app to secure your device: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.morrison.applock&hl=en. There are some methods to get around it, but you are able to prevent them from happening so it's still quite handy. If you remotely wipe your device, a "theif" may not be able to recover your data. Data recovery tools usually deal with external memory, so it'll be harder to recovery your device's internal data.
Yes, it is possible. If you set a password lock on your device and use some 3rd party screen lock, then you can use them at the same time. Remember you can also setup a SIM lock.
P.S: Does your device boot up fully or just to the battery charging icon? Does your device boot into recovery mode while attempting to charge it while off?
Thank you for your valuable reaction. According to what you say, Android actually doesn't care about security at all. I've just read that the Device Encryption isn't even 256-bit AES, but only 128. However, according to the link I can see that it actually uses some kind of VPN to connect to my Google account? If it is that secure, can I assume that my SQL Database of the Googel account also has extra encryption on it? And how far do you think that tunnel connection goes, does it also count for the GMail app or just for the basic Android connection? However, my contacts are indeed synced with my Google account. What do you suggest to do then? Noone should ever possibly get access to it. Let's say that I want to be as secure as that even the FBI or CIA won't be able to access it, any suggestions to accomplish that?
What I'm thinking about now is unlinking my Google account with my Android device (or even flashing a rom without Google Apps), but what would my phone make sense then? All of my contacts, numbers and more are stored on my Google profile, no other place. You also mentioned "so it'll be harder to recovery your device's internal data", from which I presume it is possible. Because I'm kind of paranoid because of what happened to me in the past, I hereby think that the only way to fix it is by encrypting the device. However, I can't get past that logo and a 3rd party app doesn't seem to do that kind of job (except for WhisperCore, which has been out of development since it has been bought by Twitter).
An interesting idea that I've just thought of is importing my contacts into Skype and then just always use the Skype app (combined with 3G). Skype always uses a 256-bit AES encryption and so it is secure for sure.
So, what do you think? Should I unlink my Google account with my Android device? Or should I just disable sync? Also, in my experience, there indeed always is a way to bypass an app locker (as easy as just removing the app, which can easily be done from recovery).
PS: It fully boots up. My previous version of CM9 booted to the battery charging icon, it's that that I want back.
Set a pattern unlock... it is FBI-proof as stated by CNET (if I've not mistaken)
And even amazon is using 128-bit... that isn't anything strange that Google isn't using 256-bit
Accidentally sent from my Google Nexus S
Yes it does use that connection (it wouldn't make sense to make it "open stream"). Your database files can be easily accessed from your device. The information will be secured in your Google account, but hackers can still find ways to access it (difficulty would depend on what you do). The tunnel connection goes for all your Google apps. Well if you're that paranoid, you'll probably want to remove your contacts from your Google account and disable sync.
If you do that, you will not be able to access any Google services from an app, your device will be missing important Google framework files, and you will not be able to download apps from the Play Store. Everything's possible .
Yes, you could do that. Keep in mind that the number of bits isn't necessarily important. See here: http://www.bestsslcertificates.com/articles11.html.
I would suggest disable sync.
P.S: Did you change your recovery since then?
melvinchng said:
Set a pattern unlock... it is FBI-proof as stated by CNET (if I've not mistaken)
And even amazon is using 128-bit... that isn't anything strange that Google isn't using 256-bit
Accidentally sent from my Google Nexus S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am going to be honest, the first thing I did when I read this was laughing. But after some research, I saw you actually have a point. I've just read this: http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2012/0...roids-old-school-pattern-unlock-is-fbi-proof/
But then I ask myself, how hard can the FBI suck? If I'm right, you can just reboot into recovery and then access everything from there? Even disabling the pattern unlock from there is an option, no?
Beside that, what about encrypted messaging and encrypting calls. There are lots of apps available for that, but none except for Skype is stable and non-ugly at the same time.
Rakoen said:
I am going to be honest, the first thing I did when I read this was laughing. But after some research, I saw you actually have a point. I've just read this: http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2012/0...roids-old-school-pattern-unlock-is-fbi-proof/
But then I ask myself, how hard can the FBI suck? If I'm right, you can just reboot into recovery and then access everything from there? Even disabling the pattern unlock from there is an option, no?
Beside that, what about encrypted messaging and encrypting calls. There are lots of apps available for that, but none except for Skype is stable and non-ugly at the same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't change the setting in recovery, eg. Disable pattern unlock. It is a setting, unless you are just a little bit lucky, or else system will be corrupted
Accidentally sent from my Google Nexus S
Rakoen said:
I am going to be honest, the first thing I did when I read this was laughing. But after some research, I saw you actually have a point. I've just read this: http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2012/0...roids-old-school-pattern-unlock-is-fbi-proof/
But then I ask myself, how hard can the FBI suck? If I'm right, you can just reboot into recovery and then access everything from there? Even disabling the pattern unlock from there is an option, no?
Beside that, what about encrypted messaging and encrypting calls. There are lots of apps available for that, but none except for Skype is stable and non-ugly at the same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could "encrypt" your messages and calls with an app locker (make "settings" be a locked app so it cannot be uninstalled). No, the pattern unlock cannot be disabled via recovery. You can access many things from recovery, but not like that. The only way they could know your pattern would be by finger markings (which you could wipe away or get a fingerprint resistant screen; unless your device is one of those which can be bypassed with key combinations).
Theonew said:
Yes it does use that connection (it wouldn't make sense to make it "open stream"). Your database files can be easily accessed from your device. The information will be secured in your Google account, but hackers can still find ways to access it (difficulty would depend on what you do). The tunnel connection goes for all your Google apps. Well if you're that paranoid, you'll probably want to remove your contacts from your Google account and disable sync.
If you do that, you will not be able to access any Google services from an app, your device will be missing important Google framework files, and you will not be able to download apps from the Play Store. Everything's possible .
Yes, you could do that. Keep in mind that the number of bits isn't necessarily important. See here: http://www.bestsslcertificates.com/articles11.html.
I would suggest disable sync.
P.S: Did you change your recovery since then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There must be a solution for this, without having to remove the complete Google framework. But indeed, I am that paranoid. Nothing may lead to any personal file I have. However, you also mentioned "removing contacts from my Google account". Why would that be necessary? Google doesn't even give the FBI access to my account so why wouldn't it be secure? What I'm thinking off now is syncing my Google account with my Android device. Then unlinking it and then encrypting the contacts, just the contacts. Then I did sync, I did unlink and did encrypt. Wouldn't that make it impossible for enyone on the entire world to access anything from me?
Google services are not important for me, that "important framework files" don't sound important enough to me and the Google Play store... I don't care about it. Enough APK's around. Security first.
You are reminding me that the bits aren't important, while that's true, I want to remind you that secure deletion of 35x isn't that important too. 7x is more than enough if you choose a powerfull PNG stream.
Theonew said:
You could "encrypt" your messages and calls with an app locker (make "settings" be a locked app so it cannot be uninstalled). No, the pattern unlock cannot be disabled via recovery. You can access many things from recovery, but not like that. The only way they could know your pattern would be by finger markings (which you could wipe away or get a fingerprint resistant screen; unless your device is one of those which can be bypassed with key combinations).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I actually was thinking like "why would you even neet to unlock the device". As far as I know, something as a pattern lockscreen doens't encrypt/decrypt anything except for your launcher, which is not a necessary product. I mean, you say "you can access many things from recovery", doesn't this include like every important files? Aren't databases accessible and so also contacts or messages?
However, about the encrypted calls and messages I actually mean off the record things. Like TextSecure do.
Rakoen said:
There must be a solution for this, without having to remove the complete Google framework. But indeed, I am that paranoid. Nothing may lead to any personal file I have. However, you also mentioned "removing contacts from my Google account". Why would that be necessary? Google doesn't even give the FBI access to my account so why wouldn't it be secure? What I'm thinking off now is syncing my Google account with my Android device. Then unlinking it and then encrypting the contacts, just the contacts. Then I did sync, I did unlink and did encrypt. Wouldn't that make it impossible for enyone on the entire world to access anything from me?
Google services are not important for me, that "important framework files" don't sound important enough to me and the Google Play store... I don't care about it. Enough APK's around. Security first.
You are reminding me that the bits aren't important, while that's true, I want to remind you that secure deletion of 35x isn't that important too. 7x is more than enough if you choose a powerfull PNG stream.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About the Google framework files, you may want to take a look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1715375. That could be necessary to prevent hackers from getting to them. Yes, unless your data was still left on Google servers (in your account) and hackers got to it.
Yes, but some powerful undelete and data recovery softwares can still recovery data deleted using 7x (especially if the files were fragmented).
Rakoen said:
Well, I actually was thinking like "why would you even neet to unlock the device". As far as I know, something as a pattern lockscreen doens't encrypt/decrypt anything except for your launcher, which is not a necessary product. I mean, you say "you can access many things from recovery", doesn't this include like every important files? Aren't databases accessible and so also contacts or messages?
However, about the encrypted calls and messages I actually mean off the record things. Like TextSecure do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use 3rd party apps to set pattern unlock for other apps. Partly, but not quite. In recovery, you can access /data (where all your data is stored), but only to backup that partition (unless you made a previous backup which would also allow you to "restore"). You can't access the files like being able to view them (unless you are using Aroma file manager, but you still won't access those files). Databases, contacts, and messages are not accessible (unless you backed them up to your SDcard - they still wouldn't be readable though).
Rakoen said:
Well, I actually was thinking like "why would you even neet to unlock the device". As far as I know, something as a pattern lockscreen doens't encrypt/decrypt anything except for your launcher, which is not a necessary product. I mean, you say "you can access many things from recovery", doesn't this include like every important files? Aren't databases accessible and so also contacts or messages?
However, about the encrypted calls and messages I actually mean off the record things. Like TextSecure do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This topic is getting more and more interesting.
In the other hand, IF you're having pure Google Device with build in memory, people cant access your storage (built in memory) without entering a pattern or etc
Accidentally sent from my Google Nexus S
Theonew said:
About the Google framework files, you may want to take a look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1715375. That could be necessary to prevent hackers from getting to them. Yes, unless your data was still left on Google servers (in your account) and hackers got to it.
Yes, but some powerful undelete and data recovery softwares can still recovery data deleted using 7x (especially if the files were fragmented).
You can use 3rd party apps to set pattern unlock for other apps. Partly, but not quite. In recovery, you can access /data (where all your data is stored), but only to backup that partition (unless you made a previous backup which would also allow you to "restore"). You can't access the files like being able to view them (unless you are using Aroma file manager, but you still won't access those files). Databases, contacts, and messages are not accessible (unless you backed them up to your SDcard - they still wouldn't be readable though).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 7x note is not correct for 100%. The way that I overwrite data won't make it possible to recover anything at 7x, not even using powerful undelete or data recovery software. Even if you're a professional, it will be very hard to get back any data. I have experience in this sector, so I know where I'm talking about on this part.
However, what you just said about the pattern unlock is almost unbelievable. Doesn't this simply solve everything? I mean, why would anyone ever use the Android Device Encryption in ICS if there is something as a pattern unlock? Why would it make sense to use AES 128-bit when you can't even access it without the encryption?
So it wouldn't even make sense to unlink my Google account, would it? It isn't accessible you say, so why whould it be any concern? If the FBI isn't able to break behind the pattern unlock, who would be? You first said that a hacker can easily get access to any sensitive data if I sync my Google account, but why should it? Even without OpenVPN, it uses a VPN encryption for every Google App ... so Android is the best in security, I was wrong?
melvinchng said:
This topic is getting more and more interesting.
In the other hand, IF you're having pure Google Device with build in memory, people cant access your storage (built in memory) without entering a pattern or etc
Accidentally sent from my Google Nexus S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are very right on that. It really is getting interesting. Your "IF" makes me wonder what exactly you mean. As I have a LG Optimus One (P500) with custom rom, custom recovery and custom radio. Does it make any difference here?
Rakoen said:
You are very right on that. It really is getting interesting. Your "IF" makes me wonder what exactly you mean. As I have a LG Optimus One (P500) with custom rom, custom recovery and custom radio. Does it make any difference here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't access your storage WITHOUT entering the pattern in stock device. IF you're in stock and wanted to root, both system and internal SD will be wiped (a factory reset will be made). So no data will be left
Device: nexus s, galaxy nexus, nexus 7
Accidentally sent from my Google Nexus S
And regarding to the security, Google released an app that helps you to monitor which app is requesting what permission. You can even set which permission is deny so that you can't install the app and highly "dangerous" app will be kept away from your device.
Accidentally sent from my Google Nexus S
Rakoen said:
The 7x note is not correct for 100%. The way that I overwrite data won't make it possible to recover anything at 7x, not even using powerful undelete or data recovery software. Even if you're a professional, it will be very hard to get back any data. I have experience in this sector, so I know where I'm talking about on this part.
However, what you just said about the pattern unlock is almost unbelievable. Doesn't this simply solve everything? I mean, why would anyone ever use the Android Device Encryption in ICS if there is something as a pattern unlock? Why would it make sense to use AES 128-bit when you can't even access it without the encryption?
So it wouldn't even make sense to unlink my Google account, would it? It isn't accessible you say, so why whould it be any concern? If the FBI isn't able to break behind the pattern unlock, who would be? You first said that a hacker can easily get access to any sensitive data if I sync my Google account, but why should it? Even without OpenVPN, it uses a VPN encryption for every Google App ... so Android is the best in security, I was wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not necessarily. If someone knows your pattern unlock, they could unlock your device. Or even people standing behind you could see it. Someone may use it if another person knows their unlock pattern (but wouldn't know the code).
If USB debugging is enabled, someone could access your databases, etc. over adb. You wouldn't need to sync your Google account - your device would do that automatically (unless you disabled sync which is what I suggested).
melvinchng said:
You can't access your storage WITHOUT entering the pattern in stock device. IF you're in stock and wanted to root, both system and internal SD will be wiped (a factory reset will be made). So no data will be left
Device: nexus s, galaxy nexus, nexus 7
Accidentally sent from my Google Nexus S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a true thing you say there. But however, it doesn't apply in my situation. I currently am on a rooted device that not even is a nexus (LG Optimus One P500)... so how does it make sense in my case?
melvinchng said:
And regarding to the security, Google released an app that helps you to monitor which app is requesting what permission. You can even set which permission is deny so that you can't install the app and highly "dangerous" app will be kept away from your device.
Accidentally sent from my Google Nexus S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've blocked all connections using DroidWall, so it would be impossible to upload anything personal to an intruder. Beside that, I use my own way of scanning apps and so I do know if I'm secure on that matter. However, thanks for letting me know there is an app for that.
However, I'm not concerned about that kind of security (I am protected against any kind of virusses or malware), my concern is about sniffers and more importantly thiefs that are great hackers (which in my case are around the corner).
Theonew said:
Not necessarily. If someone knows your pattern unlock, they could unlock your device. Or even people standing behind you could see it. Someone may use it if another person knows their unlock pattern (but wouldn't know the code).
If USB debugging is enabled, someone could access your databases, etc. over adb. You wouldn't need to sync your Google account - your device would do that automatically (unless you disabled sync which is what I suggested).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disable visible pattern and use two steps verification for Gmail.
Google search for it, 2 steps verification for Gmail.
Even thought someone has your Gmail account AND password, they still aren't able to log in into your mail... and the password that you use to log in in your Android device IS different from the normal one AND the password has to renew monthly..
Google really put a lot of hard work on solving those problem that you mentioned. Try out those things that Google has made
Accidentally sent from my Google Nexus S
Theonew said:
Not necessarily. If someone knows your pattern unlock, they could unlock your device. Or even people standing behind you could see it. Someone may use it if another person knows their unlock pattern (but wouldn't know the code).
If USB debugging is enabled, someone could access your databases, etc. over adb. You wouldn't need to sync your Google account - your device would do that automatically (unless you disabled sync which is what I suggested).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, then I'm going to create a pattern unlock as strong that it's impossible to follow, even if the person is standing beside me and looking at it. I'm also not planning to show it to anyone and will look around if there are cameras every time I unlock (yes, I am paranoid, but with reason).
I thought exactly the same about USB debugging and so I disabled it. I don't understand what you are trying to say with the sync. Why would I want to disable it? What would it add as security?
And it seems like I skipped this:
Theonew said:
P.S: Did you change your recovery since then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I haven't change my recovery since a long time.
Rakoen said:
That's a true thing you say there. But however, it doesn't apply in my situation. I currently am on a rooted device that not even is a nexus (LG Optimus One P500)... so how does it make sense in my case?
I've blocked all connections using DroidWall, so it would be impossible to upload anything personal to an intruder. Beside that, I use my own way of scanning apps and so I do know if I'm secure on that matter. However, thanks for letting me know there is an app for that.
However, I'm not concerned about that kind of security (I am protected against any kind of virusses or malware), my concern is about sniffers and more importantly thiefs that are great hackers (which in my case are around the corner).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you let us know what is your job / what does your phone contains / what is most of them...
And actually, there is an Chinese app, 360 Strong Box, and what it does is exactly what you want. It is a software made by 360 company, the app can convert image / video / documents and data into a file that can only be access by using the 360 strongbox... you don't have to worry about the security, 360 is one of the largest Chinese security company that provides antivirus or anti spyware on different platform, windows, android, symbian, iOS etc.
UNFORTUNATELY, it is in Chinese language and the company signed it in private, so I couldn't compile and recompile it and make a translation.
Request from the company for the English translation. I can help them to translate if they're willing to release a copy of English version. The translation is about 400 lines only, a short app.
Accidentally sent from my Google Nexus S
Hello,
yesterday, I got my Galaxy S3 (custom build cm10.1) from my pocket to notice it said "safe mode" on the bottom. It might be that I accidentally pressed buttons to get into safe mode; but thats not the problem here.
I noticed that all my custom accounts were now missing (Caldav, Carddav, Xing, and some more). Only the google accounts remain. As all my contacts and calendar entries are on the caldav/carddav server, they went missing, too (of course, they will come back when re-adding the account). I didn't know about the existence of safe mode, I thought like "what the...", and restarted the phone, and it came up without safe mode now. But - the accounts are still missing, and taking a closer look I noticed that some customized or account-related widgets (K9 for example) are also missing now. At least most of the app data seems to still be present; even the Xing app works as expected, even though the related account is missing from the settings. It seems all the account related data is still there.
I've got three questions now:
1) Is it normal, that the described accounts/widgets get permanently lost when entering safe mode?
2) Is there a way to restore these without manually entering/configuring them again?
3) What _other_ data/settings I perhaps didn't notice until now can go missing when entering safe mode?
Thanks in advance
Nico
McNetic said:
I noticed that all my custom accounts were now missing (Caldav, Carddav, Xing, and some more). Only the google accounts remain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same with Nexus 4 (Stock firmware 4.3): Inadvertently (don't ask how ) but manually started safe mode. The result after a normal reboot was the complete loss of all custom accounts and related widgets.
lonesomecoder said:
Same with Nexus 4 (Stock firmware 4.3): Inadvertently (don't ask how ) but manually started safe mode. The result after a normal reboot was the complete loss of all custom accounts and related widgets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same with Nexus 5. All accounts and widgets lost. All (non-Google) contacts lost. Calendar lost.
There should be a warning on the on-line instructions for using safe-mode unless this is a bug in Android that needs to be fixed.
This is NOT a bug. This is how Safe Mode is designed and works very similar to Safe Mode on the computer. It disables all 3rd party apps, widgets, data, etc so you can make sure if your phone is having trouble that it's not from something you have done or installed. You should just be able to reboot and Safe Mode be disabled. If it is not, then make sure your Volume keys aren't stuck.
es0tericcha0s said:
You should just be able to reboot and Safe Mode be disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That right. However, the problem is not safe mode or leaving safe mode, but the problem is, that afterwards, when booting normally, all third party (non-google) accounts and some widgets (and maybe other data, but that I don't know) are lost and seem not to be recoverable. (see post #1)
Ohh sorry, thought you were still stuck in Safe Mode and wondering why the stuff wasn't there. Sorry. But yea...definitely not normal for it to lose all your stuff after you boot back to normal mode. As far as restoring it - only if you had a nandroid of the same rom or everything backed up with like Titanium Backup.
This happened to me last night.
I left my Nexus 5 on my bedside table. Usually I put it into aeroplane mode before going to sleep, but this time I didn't. When I woke up this morning, I picked the phone up and all my widgets were gone from my home screens apart from Google Newsstand and the Google search bar and all of my accounts were gone apart from my main Google account. My wallpaper had also reverted to the stock Nexus 5 wallpaper.
I rebooted the phone, but it booted up in Safe Mode for some reason - and it was still messed up - so I turned it off and on again and it booted into normal mode, but it was STILL messed up and all of my widgets/accounts were gone apart from the Google ones.
I ended up doing a factory reset. I have no idea how this happened as the phone was on a bedside table all night, untouched. The only thing I didn't do that I would normally do at night is put it into aeroplane mode.
Well it's 2020, and this fault still occurs! I've a Samsung Note 3 (Android 5.0) that just disconnected and deleted my CardDAV sync connector/account. I've lost all my unsync'd contacts (There were quite a number, as it's been a while since I sync'd -- so it's quite the loss). I've tried various contact recovery tools, to no avail. Here's a description from from DAVx⁵ tech support, as to what seemingly happened .... (DAVx⁵ is a CardDAV sync adapter, but mine was similiar: CardDAV-Sync Free):
-------------------------------------
"At some occasions (especially when booting), Android looks for orphaned accounts which are not associated to a sync adapter. Unfortunately, this check is sometimes run before DAVx⁵ is available.
So, if this check doesn't find DAVx⁵ for whatever reason, it thinks that all DAVx⁵ accounts are orphaned and deletes them, including all your local contacts, calendars and tasks (together with all unsynced changes). This problem is known for at least these cases:
- when DAVx⁵ has been moved to the external storage or SD card (although this is forbidden by the app manifest),
- when the device is booted into safe mode, and...
because of a Google Play bug which may affect users who have got DAVx⁵ via Google Play on
many Android 4.4.x devices, regardless of the manufacturer, for instance LG G3 (LG-D855) with Android 4.4.2, and some other devices.
How to fix it:
- DAVx⁵ must not be moved to external storage (SD card or USB storage).
- Upgrade your device to the latest available Android version (if your firmware is really old, you may consider a custom ROM).
- If you boot into safe mode, be prepared that all local DAVx⁵ data (including unsynced changes) will be lost. At the next synchronization, all data will be downloaded from the server again.
- You may consider to install DAVx⁵ from another source (e.g. F-Droid)." --https://www.davx5.com/faq/accounts-gone-after-reboot-or-update
---------------------------------------------
I've spent many, many hours searching the net and trying to recover what I lost, to no avail. It seems that most people go for the "set it up again and re-sync to the server"... which restores everything up until the last sync. So they don't loose too much... so the occasional problem doesn't get a lot of attention, nor does it garner enough outrage to get it fixed, it seems. I have no great confidence that this won't happen again, so I'm taking the precaution of:
- Upgrading to a phone with Android 8, and not using Google Play to install the sync adapter app
- or -
- Disabling safe mode for Android v7 or lower (https://www.hexnode.com/mobile-devi...fe-mode-on-android-devices-using-hexnode-mdm/)
I'm looking to use a Kindle Fire HDX for a small project that I've been working on. The project just requires a touch screen with a web browser (it's a web app with fairly low requirements), but it requires that users not be able to exit kiosk mode (short of rebooting the thing), exit the full screen browser, or display any kind of OS chrome whatsoever. I'm wondering if the Kindle will be able to meet my needs, without rooting it / doing anything crazy advanced beyond just installing an app (or using functionality it already has built in). Additionally, is it possible to force the screen to be on 24/7, so that nothing about the browser session will ever change?
I'd like to avoid rooting it because I live in Canada - while that has seemingly no relevance to this; if I'm unable to use the Kindle for whatever reason, the device is basically worthless up here (we have no Amazon streaming video service, etc), and I'd like to save myself the potential monetary loss if it isn't able to easily do this.
Are you the creator of the app? If so, there's a way to "Override" the back, home, menu, and search buttons.
It's just a website currently, but I could package it up into an Android app that just spawns a WebView if necessary (I might do so anyways, to give the app control of screen brightness if possible).
I would recommend that. If you need any help, feel free to PM me. I have some Android App Development knowledge.
Will overriding the functionality of those buttons just prevent you from leaving the app, or can I prevent the on screen buttons from showing up at all? I'd like to prevent anything from showing up no matter where you swipe on screen.
Kioware
Tixer said:
I'm looking to use a Kindle Fire HDX for a small project that I've been working on. The project just requires a touch screen with a web browser (it's a web app with fairly low requirements), but it requires that users not be able to exit kiosk mode (short of rebooting the thing), exit the full screen browser, or display any kind of OS chrome whatsoever. I'm wondering if the Kindle will be able to meet my needs, without rooting it / doing anything crazy advanced beyond just installing an app (or using functionality it already has built in). Additionally, is it possible to force the screen to be on 24/7, so that nothing about the browser session will ever change?
I'd like to avoid rooting it because I live in Canada - while that has seemingly no relevance to this; if I'm unable to use the Kindle for whatever reason, the device is basically worthless up here (we have no Amazon streaming video service, etc), and I'd like to save myself the potential monetary loss if it isn't able to easily do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have found Kioware to work on my new $50 kindle fire. It isn't perfect, as users can exit out of the app (and see the other apps and kindle home screen), but it will reopen automatically in a few seconds. If a user tries to select a different app, it will force the kiosk browser to re-open right away. There is a free trial.