I see in the settings there's an option for encrypting the phones data itself but I'm looking for something else.
I want to set a password so that while the phone is booting up it will not load in without a password and I want to remove the factory data reset option inside the recovery and make it so that no one is able to reset the phone without a password.
any ideas?
-Trippz
People have been looking for this for years and it is not an option. There is not fool proof way to prevent someone from wiping your device.
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Is there such a thing?
If my phone ever gets stolen, I'll just consider it gone. The first thing anyone with half a brain will do is power it off and pull the sim. By having a boot password I'll ensure they can't use my data and have to wipe the phone.
Godfrd824 said:
Is there such a thing?
If my phone ever gets stolen, I'll just consider it gone. The first thing anyone with half a brain will do is power it off and pull the sim. By having a boot password I'll ensure they can't use my data and have to wipe the phone.
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this would be a great thing, like a bios password
I believe that Ice Cream Sandwich and later will let you encrypt your entire device so that you need to enter a password to decrypt it each time you boot.
The password is entered at the lock screen.
I haven't personally tried it because it appears to prevent custom recoveries from accessing data on the phone.
See http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1388977 for more information.
Sent from my Nexus 10
If you have a password at the lock screen, files cannot be accessed via USB as it won't mount the /sdcard until after the password has been entered. But if you have a recovery installed then someone could just mount the sdcard from within that.
The thief would have to know what recovery is first. What are the odds of that happening? If you do end up getting your phone stolen by a thief with tech knowledge about Android, then consider it your bad luck and forget about it.
On a side note, use Cerberus. It's a hell of an app and you can remotely wipe data off your phone and SD card via www.cerberusapp.com or using SMS via the Cerberus client app (if your phone's internet is disabled).
sashank said:
On a side note, use Cerberus. It's a hell of an app and you can remotely wipe data off your phone and SD card via www.cerberusapp.com or using SMS via the Cerberus client app (if your phone's internet is disabled).
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Wow! I didn't know about Cerberus. I'm going to have to try this out some time. I especially like the idea of being able to take pictures of the thief.
Sent from my Nexus 10
It's brilliant. And for the very minimal amount that you have to pay for a lifetime license (~$4.5), you get to use up to 5 devices with your account. The best way to install Cerberus if you're rooted is to download the flashable zip from their website and flash it. Or copy the Cerberus apk to /system partition and set permissions. That way, even if the thief factory resets the device, the app will remain in the /system partition and still be active. Unless the thief knows how to go into recovery, wipe system and flash a new ROM (highly unlikely), Cerberus will always be there to work when required. If you install it from Play Store then it goes into the /data partition and gets removed when a factory reset is done.
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium
Need help
Hi, i hv htc one v and i want to root it, i tried bt failed. Cd u pls help me....?
reset to factory setting with starting the phone
What if the phone is reset to factory setting with starting the phone? There is an option to do that with out starting the phone by pressing the down volume key and the power key.
I have a OnePlus 3 and I was thinking of encrypting it for additional security & privacy reasons. But since I flash various ROM level mods / use xposed modules on my phone, I was wondering about the negative consequences I have to face after encrypting an android phone.
I have a few doubts which need to be cleared.
1) Since my android phone would be encrypted, would I absolutely not be able to flash any new files/make nandroid backup from the recovery?
2) If 1) is true, which means, let's say I install an xposed module which causes a bootloop. Now I would have no way to disable all the active xposed modules from recovery since the files are encrypted, which means I would have to restore everything from scratch?
3) Is there absolutely no known way of decrypting android/access files unencrypted from recovery if we know the master PIN/password?
Can somebody who has dealt/dealing with an encrypted android phone please answer these questions? Thanks.
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Hi, thanks for your reply.
Just Passing By said:
1. When you access recovery on an encrypted phone, you have to decrypt your phone. After that, your recovery can do anything it normally could do. This would of course include flashing ROMs, zip files, and making nandroid backups.
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2 things to say about that.
1)Decrypting just to flash files is a huge problem. TWRP/CWM should have a feature when it asks for the master PIN/password on the recovery, then after I enter it, it should decrypt the data on the fly and then mount the system and data partitions unencrypted so that I can flash files without going though all the decryption process.
2)Correct me if I'm wrong, but all android decryption processes I read online require wiping all data/doing a factory reset. That's again a huge problem. Why? In case I flash a mod/install a xposed module which causes a bootloop, I would have no way to decrypt my data, even if I have my master password. Which would mean I would lose all my files which I haven't backed up.
Problems like these could be avoided if TWRP provided permanent decryption/on the fly decryption using the master PIN. Comparing this with veracrypt on windows for e.g. , let's say my windows is encrypted with veracrypt and a hardware failure occurs at some point in the future & windows refuses to boot, but I'm able to load a live ISO. In this case, veracrypt offers a rescue ISO which I could use to decrypt the data without losing all my files after I enter the master PIN. So in this case, I can have security of encryption & also the convenience of decrypting it without losing all my files with the master password in case my main OS refuses to boot.
If I can't decrypt android from the recovery using the master PIN, that would mean in any case my android refuses to boot, I have lost all my files.
3. I'm assume you meant to say "... If we don't know the master PIN/Password?" And the answer to that is yes. If you can't decrypt your phone, you'll lose everything in it, so making periodic backups is a must. Otherwise, there'd be no point if you could just decrypt things right?
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No, I did not say that wrong, sorry if I wasn't clear enough on my first post. I just wanted to know if there was a way to permanently decrypt android from recovery using the master PIN so that i would be able to recover my files to a USB in case my android refuses to boot.
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Currently if you enter the PIN wrong, or wrong fingerprint, or wrong screen-tap code wrong 10 times it will wipe your phone AND sd card. I cannot find any way to disable this. It kind of defeats the purpose of having an SD card if your child can grab your phone and erase it in under 2 minutes.... any help would be appreciated. I have an RS988 so I could root if need be but I don't want to use custom ROMs. Thanks.
I think, the risk that this situation will appear, is same high than you can have lost your phone or it was been stolen.
So i recommend to make a backup with LG backup to a second external sd card every month!
And no, there is no way to protect your phone against secure wipe after entering wrong pin for ten times.
Sorry!
BTW: most of the available restore programs are able to get your data back in this case. It is not an really secure wipe!
and...
Sometimes it seems to be possible to make a backup of all of your date using the adb bridge.
(connection to a pc is needed!) Use Google to get more informations about that procedure!
see here for example: ->
1.) https://www.technipages.com/how-to-backup-your-entire-android-device
2.) https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/guide-phone-backup-unlock-root-t1420351
I use LG backup only and i need ~1h to fully restore my H850. (including all setups for right management and sound settings too!)
I was thinking about securing my phone by encrypting it.
But I don't think that the current encryption is sufficient enough because in some cases users can be forced to decrypt their phone. Would it be possible to make encryption something like this?
Encrypt phone and set a kill switch mode on. This kill switch mode will wipe (7 or 8 pass) the entire phone including the SD card) During the process that the phone is wiped the phone can not be turned on and gives an error message to the user that there is a kernel missing or something like that. Once the wipe is completed you can turn on the phone again but doesn't start because no OS is on it or any data. I think this is the only way encryption truly works. Like I said, in some cases user might be forced to decrypt their phone. Does something like this exist or can this be developed?
Hi guys,
I was trying to flash POSP Android 10.. it was not booting me in.
So, i went back to my backup. But now i am not able to login as its saying my decrypt password is wrong.
I am not able to login to TWRP also, as again i am facing issue, since its asking for password.
I know i have to format the data but not sure as how to do it without access to TWRP.
Cheers!!!
press the back button then you can format data
Type as password --> default_password
install DFE and try
otherwise format data (you will lose everything in your internal storage )
Did you got pattern lock active before flashing POSP, if yes try the numbers associated with each dot of your pattern as password.