Hello,
I searched everywhere but I couldn't find much info on how to sanitize my phones' internal memory.
I have an HTC ONE, and a Samsung Galaxy S4 that I am trying to sell. I know that it's fairly easy to recover data from a wiped partition by using programs like "TenorShare Android Data Recovery", unless data has been written over them at least once.
I had taken pictures of some documents containing highly sensitive data with the phone, and would like to make sure that those documents are not recoverable by the next user.
Neither of them have the USB Mass Storage option in the settings, so I can't just use some secure wipe program.
Thank you!
kev510 said:
Hello,
I searched everywhere but I couldn't find much info on how to sanitize my phones' internal memory.
I have an HTC ONE, and a Samsung Galaxy S4 that I am trying to sell. I know that it's fairly easy to recover data from a wiped partition by using programs like "TenorShare Android Data Recovery", unless data has been written over them at least once.
I had taken pictures of some documents containing highly sensitive data with the phone, and would like to make sure that those documents are not recoverable by the next user.
Neither of them have the USB Mass Storage option in the settings, so I can't just use some secure wipe program.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This question keeps on coming up. It is not possible to securely wipe the internal 'SD Card' of any device. The only way to be sure is to destroy the phone itself. Unlike a PC you can't simply swap the hard-drive with a clean one.
SimonTS said:
This question keeps on coming up. It is not possible to securely wipe the internal 'SD Card' of any device. The only way to be sure is to destroy the phone itself. Unlike a PC you can't simply swap the hard-drive with a clean one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you mean I just have to live with the fact that if I sell my phone, the next user has access to everything that was on my phone? How about putting 30gb worth of useless files into the phone and deleting them all? Would that have a similar effect as writing bunch of random 1's and 0's on the partition?
kev510 said:
So you mean I just have to live with the fact that if I sell my phone, the next user has access to everything that was on my phone? How about putting 30gb worth of useless files into the phone and deleting them all? Would that have a similar effect as writing bunch of random 1's and 0's on the partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could do that repeatedly with random files, but you will never be able to do it to the system partitions - so you can't clear out anything on those partitions and will therefore never be sure what might be left behind.
The 'next user' may well not be able to recover anything, but a forensic expert could do so very easily indeed.
kev510 said:
So you mean I just have to live with the fact that if I sell my phone, the next user has access to everything that was on my phone? How about putting 30gb worth of useless files into the phone and deleting them all? Would that have a similar effect as writing bunch of random 1's and 0's on the partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, prior to going further, you might be interested in reading up these articles to gain more insight:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_erasure
http://www.androidcentral.com/securely-wiping-your-android-phone-makes-it-just-fine-sell-fud
http://www.securedeletion.com/
http://zackeryfretty.com/posts/secure-erasing-android-devices-guide-for-the-super-paranoid-seller
You're probably best wiping your phone, filling it up, wiping....... As many times as you can.
Sent from HTC Sensation XDA App
HTC Sensation
Android Version: 4.3
CyanogenMod Version: 10.2.1
CPU Frequency: 1.74ghz
Related
Hi guys,
I'm doing some research related to mobiles and need some help, as Google searches aren't bringing much up other than remote-wiping apps etc.
What I want to know basically - is it possible to securely wipe an Android phone, and if so, how? For example if you took an ex-work phone from a business, how would you go about securely wiping the data so that it couldn't be recovered.
I'm assuming that a factory reset doesn't securely wipe the data, and that it would be recoverable, is this assumption correct?
I came across one app that seems to overwrite all "deleted" data called SHREDroid but that seems to have lots of problems judging by the reviews.
Would really love some help on this if someone with more knowledge on the subject could enlighten me!
Thanks!
A data wipe deletes all user data, there's no way to recover it
They could be a way on a rooted phone but idk
Sent from my ice cream powered Nexus S
DarkhShadow said:
A data wipe deletes all user data, there's no way to recover it
They could be a way on a rooted phone but idk
Sent from my ice cream powered Nexus S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I don't want to sound rude but do you have any proof to back this up? From what I've just read, it's not a secure wipe. It's just similar to deleting all your files off a memory card or something, ie. easily recoverable with the right software.
On Blackberry and iOS you can do a secure wipe where the data is deleted and completely overwritten several times so that recovery is not possible. It seems this isn't the case with Android though.
Thanks
case0 said:
Sorry I don't want to sound rude but do you have any proof to back this up? From what I've just read, it's not a secure wipe. It's just similar to deleting all your files off a memory card or something, ie. easily recoverable with the right software.
On Blackberry and iOS you can do a secure wipe where the data is deleted and completely overwritten several times so that recovery is not possible. It seems this isn't the case with Android though.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well again, if there's a way it will NEED root
You cannot access /data without root
Sent from my ice cream powered Nexus S
Ok then. Well as anyone can root a phone by following some simple instructions from the internet, I suppose the stock factory reset can't really be considered secure.
I'm quite surprised that Android is the only one out of the big three OS' to not have a secure wiping function.
Surely there must be a way to do it though. If anyone could help me out on this that would be great.
Just bumping this once and then I'll let it die.
With load balancing and remapping, are you REALLY sure that ALL data is gone? I think you need to say "safe" from reading by whom? The next casual user, or someone willing to desolder the memory and go to work on it.
I don't know what load balancing and remapping is..
Basically I mean to CESG standards.
Load balancing makes sure you don't "wear out" one area of the flash part from repeated writes. Frequently-rewritten sectors will move around, so old copies of these sectors will be left scattered across the part. Remapping allows for hard errors to be mapped out, replaced by spare sectors, and the mapped-out sectors won't be reused. If you look at those sectors, you might get some old data.
So I have a s9+ snapdragon running the latest Android 9 pie. My files got wiped out after a factory reset and I wanted to get some closure. Can I get those files back? It was not backed up on Google or Samsung cloud. Nor was it on a sd card. It was in the internal phone storage.
I hear you can recover the data so long as you don't overwrite the data. Files aren't really lost and still technically in your phone. These are pics and video actually. It's all I care about. I hear people saying you have to root phone and do a deep scan of the phone to try to recover the data but I hear you can't root cause it doesn't work on my version of s9+. (Snapdragon and android 9) I also heard you gotta take it to forensics data recovery. I called them but they said nope files are gone. But I read on Google recoverable.
Please anyone, help me. I've been down since I lost my pics and video. I took vids and pics back to my homeland where I haven't been back in 10 years.
PS. I was on vacation when this happened. My company unfortunately has access to my phone and if you miss type your password a certain amount of times it triggers the factory reset and wipes it out. I decided to stop a certain amount of times and then my 20 month old son started pushing buttons and there you have it. Factory reset.
files are lost bud. Sorry
did you ever connect your phone to any cloud for backup purposes?
It's connected but I didn't back up photos or vids. Everything else I did. Is there a way to root this version of phone I have? Temp root at least without tripping Knox?
No you can't ...it's gone...
Factory reset wipes /data internal storage
Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk
Asepriest said:
No you can't ...it's gone...
Factory reset wipes /data internal storage
Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mostly correct. It wipes the table of contents of storage, but doesnt actually wipe(remove) anything. The issue is that it starts writing 1's and 0's wherever it wants to because as far as it knows, the internal storage is empty (which it isnt). It then starts unintentionally corrupting file after file as it writes system data and everything else it writes. Can he recover the data? Maybe. Is it likely? Not even remotely. The only way to recover it is to turn it off, like now and get it connected to a lunix instance, adb into it and see whats still there. Which is likely nothing usable.
Completely unrelated side note: Youre from Sibiu? I visited there about 2 years ago. Positively GORGEOUS place!! We saw the sun set over cobblestone right between two rows of buildings. It was surreal!
bluerogue85 said:
It's connected but I didn't back up photos or vids. Everything else I did. Is there a way to root this version of phone I have? Temp root at least without tripping Knox?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes there is a way to root it, and thats probably your only hope. Turn the phone off, read up on the new-ish root methods, apply them to your phone and see what you can get via ADB. Dont hold your breath, but that is the only way to get there. Treat it like a recently wiped hard drive, because thats technically what it is. Its the "C: drive" of your phone essentially
Youdoofus said:
mostly correct. It wipes the table of contents of storage, but doesnt actually wipe(remove) anything. The issue is that it starts writing 1's and 0's wherever it wants to because as far as it knows, the internal storage is empty (which it isnt). It then starts unintentionally corrupting file after file as it writes system data and everything else it writes. Can he recover the data? Maybe. Is it likely? Not even remotely. The only way to recover it is to turn it off, like now and get it connected to a lunix instance, adb into it and see whats still there. Which is likely nothing usable.
Completely unrelated side note: Youre from Sibiu? I visited there about 2 years ago. Positively GORGEOUS place!! We saw the sun set over cobblestone right between two rows of buildings. It was surreal!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please teach me step by step how to do that or point me to a link. Cause thats what i read about how its not really gone. Has to have data over write the existing that was supposedly deleted. Did you mean Linux or lunix?
bluerogue85 said:
Can you please teach me step by step how to do that or point me to a link. Cause thats what i read about how its not really gone. Has to have data over write the existing that was supposedly deleted. Did you mean Linux or lunix?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if i typed lunix, then i meant Linux, and if i typed Linux, i meant Linux. Either way, i meant Linux. So, step by step... eesh thats gonna be a lot. First thing is to turn your phone off if you havent already. Itll keep writing stuff to the internal storage even if it doesnt say its doing so. Thats jsut what it does and it doesnt know that you dont want it to do that while its powered on. If youre able to do so, you can just turn on USB debugging in developer options and connect it to your computer without rooting it but granting permissions for your computer to access the drive. All of this requires having your phone powered on. The most dangerous thing ive told you to do is turn on usb debugging since it will write to the internal storage that you now have access to dev options, and then usb debugging. When the phone is powered on, try to keep it on airplane mode to avoid giving it reasons to actually do stuff. Linux isnt really necessary either as most software recovery tools will recognize the device and storage just fine, but the likelihood of it being able to actually recover anything is slim. If that doesnt get you full access to the internal storage, then youll have to either root or use linux or both. Its been a while since ive attempted this, so forgive me if my steps are off. That being said, these are the progressive steps one would need to take in order to do what youre trying to do.
does it wipe the phone though? Or does the phone allocate the areas where data is as free? If it only installs system and sets the previously used memory as "available or free". it can be recovered
Edit : if your phone was encrypted it wouldn't matter. Did your phone use secure start-up? (required a pin or password etc) then it would show adblock opening.
Nigmea said:
does it wipe the phone though? Or does the phone allocate the areas where data is as free? If it only installs system and sets the previously used memory as "available or free". it can be recovered
Edit : if your phone was encrypted it wouldn't matter. Did your phone use secure start-up? (required a pin or password etc) then it would show adblock opening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my company triggered the factory reset after failed attempts of putting password in. see it uses a thing called airwartch or vmware not sure what its called but yea..still hoping to recover vids and pics if i can root my phone and just do a deep scan just not sure how. esp for my version phone of s9+ snapdragon android pie. i have not taken pics or vids. just twitter, fb, email. some internet browsing. but not sure if those overwrite new data as well.
bluerogue85 said:
my company triggered the factory reset after failed attempts of putting password in. see it uses a thing called airwartch or vmware not sure what its called but yea..still hoping to recover vids and pics if i can root my phone and just do a deep scan just not sure how. esp for my version phone of s9+ snapdragon android pie. i have not taken pics or vids. just twitter, fb, email. some internet browsing. but not sure if those overwrite new data as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try an app called disk digger. It's your best bet. About the best on the market. If you root. Or reinstall the firmware in Odin. Kiss em good bye
The way this works is front to back. A file is normally written from front to back. Once it gets the end. It starts over. Then there goes old deleted files
Files are not deleted until over written. But actually marked for deletion. Not gone till next write cycle
If it can't then their gone. But every day you use your device the chance gets slimmer. Just cause your not downloading stuff. Cache and sick files are over writing.
TheMadScientist said:
You can try an app called disk digger. It's your best bet. About the best on the market. If you root. Or reinstall the firmware in Odin. Kiss em good bye
The way this works is front to back. A file is normally written from front to back. Once it gets the end. It starts over. Then there goes old deleted files
Files are not deleted until over written. But actually marked for deletion. Not gone till next write cycle
If it can't then their gone. But every day you use your device the chance gets slimmer. Just cause your not downloading stuff. Cache and sick files are over writing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a way to root my phone without wiping it out first? Really trying this as my last option. To at least get some pics and or vids back.
bluerogue85 said:
Is there a way to root my phone without wiping it out first? Really trying this as my last option. To at least get some pics and or vids back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably not.
Which link can you guys point me to to root? I have s9+ snapdragon. What are all my choices? Thank you.
I think I found one but link is broken. Syndicate. I really need this so I can at least do a deep scan of my phone. I need root!
You're right that it's possible to recover the data as long as it hasn't been overwritten. However, it can be difficult to do so without rooting your phone and doing a deep scan, as you mentioned. Unfortunately, it sounds like you can't root your phone due to its version.
You might want to consider reaching out to managed IT services that specialize in data recovery. They might have more advanced techniques and tools to recover your data. It's worth a shot since the pictures and videos mean a lot to you.
Good luck, and I hope you're able to recover your memories!
Hello,
So I've been perusing the threads, searching for an answer on this, however, I've not found it. I need to recover data after my phone was inadvertently wiped. I have a cryptocurrency wallet on there I need to get the app data for/recover. I tried a few applications, but they required me to root the phone. I then found this forum, and have been searching for more information, however, it seems rooting my phone model is circumstantial?
I've done OEM unlock, activated debugging mode, and the option that states "allow bootloader" unlock. In light of that, do I still have to flash the phone? If so, will it be possible to recover any data that hasn't been overwritten? Has anyone successfully rooted the Oneplus Nord N10 5G BE 2026?
I would humbly appreciate any advice on this matter, thank you.
If that data is worth much, power off the phone and don't use it.
If the internal memory was encrypted (Android 11 automatically does this) you have huge problems because the encryption key is gone.
The cryptocurrency wallet it's self may have builtin safeguards and those files are in a ocean of data now, diluted. All folder structure was lost when the data was deleted. If you can recover the data, you can search by file type and size in that ocean of juxtaposed data.
Using a data recovery specialist is your best shot if you have one at all. Amateur attempts will likely have a poor outcome.
blackhawk said:
If that data is worth much, power off the phone and don't use it.
If the internal memory was encrypted (Android 11 automatically does this) you have huge problems because the encryption key is gone.
The cryptocurrency wallet it's self may have builtin safeguards and those files are in a ocean of data now, diluted. All folder structure was lost when the data was deleted. If you can recover the data, you can search by file type and size in that ocean of juxtaposed data.
Using a data recovery specialist is your best shot if you have one at all. Amateur attempts will likely have a poor outcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blackhawk, thank you so much for providing this information to me. This is what I thought, but don't have the background to understand this. I will follow your advice and hope for the best after finding a data specialist. Hopefully, someone can pull off a miracle. In the meantime, I will continue to peruse the forums to expand my knowledge to perhaps be better prepared for this in the future.
Truly, thanks again!
You're welcome.
Android is generally a very stable and reliable platform. However setting lock screens and such are more likely to lock you out of your own data than someone else. Sometimes through no fault of your own. If no lock is set, there's no password to get corrupted. I got locked out of a laptop bios like that.
Androids can and do crash often with little or no warning although this is rare. Drops probably kill more than anything else.
Always redundantly backup critical data to at least two hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. Never encrypt data drives... lock it in a safety deposit box if you must.
Hello all,
This is my first post here. I did some searching and didn't find a direct answer to this scenario, but my apologies if I missed something.
Recently I used my PC to move files from my phone's internal storage onto a microSD card that was mounted in the device. I used the cut & paste function in Windows explorer (didn't occur to me that I could do it on the phone itself), and did this in batches. Unfortunately since that time I've discovered some of the files are corrupted--they have the appropriate size, but can't be opened. Perhaps there is a way to analyze the file structure of the JPEG to see if a byte is missing, but aside from that, I'm interested if I can run TestDisk on the internal phone storage in some way to see if the files could possibly be recovered. I found a few tutorials (example: https://roubert.name/joakim/androidfilerecovery/), but all of them require rooting, and unfortunately my phone is not rooted.
From my review of the procedures on this forum, it seems that unlocking the bootloader and/or rooting ends up requiring that the phone be wiped. Is there any way around this? And does anyone have any other suggestions on investigating whether my photos can be recovered or not?
Thanks for any help!
Lost most likely. Copy the files to the PC. There are more tools available for Windows than Android.
From now on copy/paste, verify size and readability, then delete the source files.
Check Event Viewer during the transfer time to see if errors were reported in Windows. Maybe a bad cable, port, driver issue, etc.
In the future regularly and redundantly backup critical data on at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. I keep all critical data, music, vids, docs, backups go on the SD card and use it as a data drive. Only apps, the DCIM (backed up to the SD card regularly) and download folder go on internal. Then I backup the SD card.
There can only be one folder on Android with the name dcim. So when you backup the images in the internal memory dcim folder to the SD card rename it something like Master Pics to avoid issues.
Think it through and develop a system; everything you need to do a full reload/restore should be on the SD card. Few people utilize the SD card as it should be... it shouldn't be just a random collection of files. It adds an extra layer of protection for your data. Always use a quality V30 rated card like the Sandisk Extreme.
Any chance the photos were backed up to some service online? Google Photos is free and generally present on most Android phones, Samsung has their cloud, and some carriers do as well...
In the future, like @blackhawk said, backups are FAR more important than recovery. ANYTHING important to you should be backed up ("3-2-1" is a good policy to practice). For photos, Google Photos is great because it's free (to a limit, of course) and very easy to use. I've been recommending that to everyone, even iPhone users, because recovery is harder than ever these days - SSDs and flash can fail catastrophically and without warning much more easily than the old spinny drives which usually give some warning.
Sorry there isn't much better news. You may be able to find some un-delete software and try it. There may be paid services as well, but for the most part, it's probably lost...
If you do find something that works, do let us know... always good to find out new options! Good luck.
schwinn8 said:
Any chance the photos were backed up to some service online? Google Photos is free and generally present on most Android phones, Samsung has their cloud, and some carriers do as well...
In the future, like @blackhawk said, backups are FAR more important than recovery. ANYTHING important to you should be backed up ("3-2-1" is a good policy to practice). For photos, Google Photos is great because it's free (to a limit, of course) and very easy to use. I've been recommending that to everyone, even iPhone users, because recovery is harder than ever these days - SSDs and flash can fail catastrophically and without warning much more easily than the old spinny drives which usually give some warning.
Sorry there isn't much better news. You may be able to find some un-delete software and try it. There may be paid services as well, but for the most part, it's probably lost...
If you do find something that works, do let us know... always good to find out new options! Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, no. Didn't use a backup service online. Thanks for the advice though--I used to be pretty good about backing things up routinely, but have gotten lax. Sadly this is the consequence.
DakenSG said:
Sadly, no. Didn't use a backup service online. Thanks for the advice though--I used to be pretty good about backing things up routinely, but have gotten lax. Sadly this is the consequence.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a typically error when using MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) and you shouldn't use it for transferring files whenever it's possible. MTP was developed to offer a wide range compatibility for the most storage devices but it's very buggy and very slow.
Next time you should use the internal file explorer to copy data to your SD. This is the best practice.
Hello!
I bought this phone this week and so far I love it, long time Google Pixel user (p3a, p3xl, p4xl) that got enough of Google's AI deciding everything for me.
The cameras are amazing (Still gotta get used to it, so rn I am using auto mode) and the screen is unbeatable.
I have ONE issue with this phone, I mainly got it because I am currently deGoogling my online profile and I am planning on downloading everything from google photos and transfer it locally to my sd card and make backups every week (and store it on server in an ecrypted container). But I have been looking through the settings and can't seem to find the "Encrypt SD Card" mode, I want to encrypt it because I don't want the risk of me losing the phone and some random taking it and looking through everything I have on my SD card (that's unencrypted).
I am aware that If the device breaks down or stolen I won't be able to recover the data, but I'd much rather risking losing my data than someone else getting access to it.
Is there a way around this? I was looking into EDS or Cryptomator, but both seem to be too messy (having to access the files in the app) or need ROOT for mounting the countainers, do you guys recommend anything I can do here? I got about 70GB of photos and Videos to store on the sd card.
Looking forward to receiving replies,
Chali
Never encrypt data drives as you are the one most likely to be lock out. Many times it's through no fault of your own.
Physical security is the only real security. Phones don't just get lost unless you are careless. You ever lose your wallet?
You should probably rethink what you keep on the phone and how you handle the phone especially in unsecured environments.
blackhawk said:
Never encrypt data drives as you are the one most likely to be lock out. Many times it's through no fault of your own.
Physical security is the only real security. Phones don't just get lost unless you are careless. You ever lose your wallet?
You should probably rethink what you keep on the phone and how you handle the phone especially in unsecured environments.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very true, but I will be making backups to other devices so that's not an issue for me. I usually split it in 3 online clouds and 2 HDD.
Would you place all your sensitive info in an external SD card without encryption?
xDontStarve said:
Very true, but I will be making backups to other devices so that's not an issue for me. I usually split it in 3 online clouds and 2 HDD.
Would you place all your sensitive info in an external SD card without encryption?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Redundant backup is the only way. That sounds like a good plan. More hdds that have time staggered data and not store in one location. A Faraday cage ie earth grounded firebox is ideal.
A near lightning strike can wipe them... or magnets.
Like I said I never encrypt data drives including the one on my phone. Maybe if I had a vast empire to protect but that is not the case.
The only option i found is to put sensitive data in main internal phone's memory and a remote wipe if stolen (as i supposed phone itself is encrypted , not the sdcard) in case of sensitive infos (id cards, bank info etc)
but you have to backup its internal stockage ie some folders like "documents" regularly
invasion13 said:
The only option i found is to put sensitive data in main internal phone's memory and a remote wipe if stolen (as i supposed phone itself is encrypted , not the sdcard) in case of sensitive infos (id cards, bank info etc)
but you have to backup its internal stockage ie some folders like "documents" regularly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
An effective and safer option than encrypting the data drive. Encrypting the SD card will also impact read/write performance. How much I'm not sure.
I will reply to myself, I used EDS from the playstore. I created a hidden volume using veracrypt on pc and store files in it, I can access most files and documents within the EDS app, it works great.
xDontStarve said:
I will reply to myself, I used EDS from the playstore. I created a hidden volume using veracrypt on pc and store files in it, I can access most files and documents within the EDS app, it works great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But EDS needs root , just to prevent an useless purchase for unrooted users
invasion13 said:
But EDS needs root , just to prevent an useless purchase for unrooted users
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can explore the files inside the container (only FAT and exFAT formats) inside the EDS app and open them using another app, ROOT is needed to mount the volume (essentially being able to access it from any app)
You can adopt it
Google adb android adopt storage
orangpelupa said:
You can adopt it
Google adb android adopt storage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, thanks for your reply, but would that break when I disconnect the SD card?
xDontStarve said:
Hello, thanks for your reply, but would that break when I disconnect the SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It won't break the SD card when removed, but it will be unreadable on other devices.