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Password Protect ADB?

Has anyone thought about implementing password protection to the G1's adb interface? If someone finds (steals) your phone, it' seems like they can get easy access to your data using adb if it is enabled? Instead of forcing the default to adb-debug disabled, it seems like requiring a password would be more useful?
I realize that this might be risky since it might prevent recovery when the password is forgotten, but at that point, there is still the "wipe all my data" unlock method right?
Without this, I find it hard to trust any sensitive data to my phone (since I do not want to toggle adb on/off constantly).

I agree with you any one who find our g1 or steal it, can find easy in the internet how to use adb, or they can even find out how you can do a wipe if you turn the phone off and start the phone using Home+Power button. And they will be good to go to use the G1. I hope someone can add a password protection to this 2 options.

I guess it might be nice to add a password option to the "wipe" option, but that seems like it would sorta defeat the purpose then, wouldn't it?
I am more concerned about my data than the device itself. If someone steals my phone and they can't use it, it doesn't really help me. But, if I can at least prevent them from reading my data... I envision using my phone as a secure token to access various logins at some point (anyone want to code that up? . So, I just want to ensure that they cannot get any keys/passwords on it.
The other problem with preventing someone from wiping it is, "what do you do if you forget your own password"? I would prefer to let the thief use the phone (without my data) than to potentially brick the phone for myself. Lastly, locking it permanently off to thieves would not be a deterrent to theft unless every phone did it since they would not know about it until they stole your phone!
I am surprised that the "serious" hackers have not implemented adb protection yet, have they?

Yea its kinda a good and bad thing tho. Look at it like this .
You put the password on your phone to stop people from doing anything to it, then you forgot your password, how do you get back in? You cant. Unless you have a way around that which if you have a way around that the thief would to.
The only thing i would like is to be able to protect files so if you lost your phone someone wouldn't be able to get into it without wiping the phone.

xile6 said:
Yea its kinda a good and bad thing tho. Look at it like this .
You put the password on your phone to stop people from doing anything to it, then you forgot your password, how do you get back in? You cant. Unless you have a way around that which if you have a way around that the thief would to.
The only thing i would like is to be able to protect files so if you lost your phone someone wouldn't be able to get into it without wiping the phone.
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I agree with you and at the same time don't (right now I don't put personal files in my sd for that very reason if I lost the phone anyone can see what I have on the sd) regarding to the password I guess that it will be up to the people if you know that you forget passwords just don't use it I personally use 2 password 1 for forum 6 letter something simple and easy to remember, and one for (very important stuffs) 12 characteres letters and numbers. Plus I thing that everyone in that will be using this are people to frequent this forum wich I don't think they tend to forget passwords.

In order to gain access to program data (not applicable to sdcard), you still need to be either root, or to possess the userid of the particular program whose data you're trying to gain access to. Use of one of those secure-root password prompt programs will give you the ability to limit root access since the 'su' command will fail without the password being entered in the GUI.
This is not absolute though, since you can still boot on a recovery image, backup, and extract. Without actually encrypting the storage, there is no way to absolutely protect your data, and with a mobile device, the encryption/decryption overhead will take up too much CPU time to be practical. It could, however, be implemented on a program-by-program basis or on a data-but-not-program basis, i.e. encrypt /data/data, or /data/data-enc might be a better idea - leave data for user-programs encrypted, but system-services unencrypted, and mount the encrypted partition on screen unlock (i.e. password unlock). LUKS would be great for this. Allowing optional encryption for SD-card and allowing multiple SD-card partitions to be mounted (i.e. one encrypted, one not) would be ideal.

Well, perhaps the bootloader should get a password also? Would having both an adp and a bootloader passwords secure things completely?

Of course not. Bootloader passwords are virtually useless. All they do is stop you from booting, they do nothing at all to protect your data except from a real amateur, the likes of whom wouldn't be able to get your data off the thing even WITH root access.
As long as there is unencrypted data stored on the device, it definitely can be read off.

Could you please explain why you believe that a bootloader password would not work?
In other words, if a user is locked out from performing commands via the screen without the appropriate gesture, locked out from using adb without a password, and they cannot boot into the recovery image (or access NVRAM with fastboot) without a password, how can they access data on the internal NVRAM? I am not saying they can't (I don't know), I am asking what method you think they could use? Can the NVRAM be easily removed and plugged into another device and read? Are there other boot methods that I am not aware of (likely, I am fairly new to this) that would allow them to access the data? Or, are you just assuming that there is a method that an intelligent cracker could use?

1) you can use fastboot to boot off a recovery image file that is NOT ON THE PHONE,
2) you can connect directly to the chip and read its contents.
etc.
Keep in mind the way that bootloader passwords work; the password is NOT embedded in the bootloader - that would be stupid since you risk bricking the device every time you change the password. A password protected bootloader will access some configuration file that will have the details of the password. Fastboot would (and must) come before this stage.

It seems like you are pretty much just repeating/rewording the weaknesses already pointed out? I am not trying to be rude, if you do have some extra info, or there is something subtle that I am missing, please accept my apologies.
Specifically:
#1 should be assumed to be prevented by the bootloader password, no? Is there any reason you think this would not be effective?
As for #2, I was already asking if the NVRAM could easily be removed from the HTC? Do you have any useful info on this, on what it would take to do it? I assume this would require surface mount de-soldering?
My personal threat model would assume that my data is less valuable to a thief than my phone is. While I would prefer my data to not be easily acquired by a thief, I have nothing so secret that I would expect a thief to specifically steal my phone for it. Therefor, I assume that a thief has no incentive to destroy my phone (which he is in possession of and can use) just to get at my data. Of course, if there is an easy method to get my data (there currently are easy software methods), I would expect a thief to do so. I am hoping to close those easy software methods. If there are easy hardware methods, such as unplugging a chip or sdcard and simply inserting it into another phone, well, then perhaps the software holes are not worth plugging. But, any hardware hacks involving soldering (especially surface mount soldering) the phone are beyond my desire to foil.
Again, that is my personal objective, I understand if you do not share it. Can you think of any additional info that might be valuable with this in mind?
Thanks!

MartinFick said:
#1 should be assumed to be prevented by the bootloader password, no? Is there any reason you think this would not be effective?
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No, bootloader password won't help you here, and I already explained why.
As for #2, I was already asking if the NVRAM could easily be removed from the HTC? Do you have any useful info on this, on what it would take to do it? I assume this would require surface mount de-soldering?
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Sure, thats one way. The other way is by whatever mechanism HTC uses to initially write the bootloader to the device. I haven't looked, but there is probably a jtag port or something similar on it somewhere.
My personal threat model would assume that my data is less valuable to a thief than my phone is. While I would prefer my data to not be easily acquired by a thief, I have nothing so secret that I would expect a thief to specifically steal my phone for it. Therefor, I assume that a thief has no incentive to destroy my phone (which he is in possession of and can use) just to get at my data. Of course, if there is an easy method to get my data (there currently are easy software methods), I would expect a thief to do so. I am hoping to close those easy software methods. If there are easy hardware methods, such as unplugging a chip or sdcard and simply inserting it into another phone, well, then perhaps the software holes are not worth plugging. But, any hardware hacks involving soldering (especially surface mount soldering) the phone are beyond my desire to foil.
Again, that is my personal objective, I understand if you do not share it. Can you think of any additional info that might be valuable with this in mind?
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately, even if it were possible, securing it against that possibility isn't going to help you since the thief doesn't know that its worthless to him. He'll steal it anyways, and then garbage it when it turns out to be useless to him.

No, bootloader password won't help you here, and I already explained why.
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Uh, no you didn't. You rambled on about the password being in some config file and therefore assumed that it would not be possible or desirable to actually implement a proper bootloader password. I do not accept this criticism, people reflash their bootloaders all the time and it is up to them to determine the level of "brick risk" they want. Perhaps you don't like it, that doesn't make things impossible.
As for putting the password in a config file somewhere, it is not the only solution, one could easily create a separate tiny partition just for the password if you did not want to put FS reading code into the bootloader. (That was your point, right? That the bootloader is simple and cannot read a filesystem?) Surely the bootloader knows how to read partitions, or how would it be able to boot the kernel? With this you could reduce most "brick risk" by providing a "boot from external kernel for recovery after wiping the partitions" option.
And, finally, perhaps there is some other minimal byte storage on the HTC Dream where a password could be easily stored? Something analogous to the CMOS of a PC, something the bootloader could easily read/write to change the password?
Sure, thats one way. The other way is by whatever mechanism HTC uses to initially write the bootloader to the device. I haven't looked, but there is probably a jtag port or something similar on it somewhere.
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Valid concern, easy for someone with the right tools, and some very specialized expertise perhaps. I would be plenty happy to foil all thiefs who do not own such tools or have such knowledge, I believe those are the ones likely to steal my phone.
Unfortunately, even if it were possible, securing it against that possibility isn't going to help you since the thief doesn't know that its worthless to him. He'll steal it anyways, and then garbage it when it turns out to be useless to him.
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Why is not going to help me? If he can't get my data (easily without desoldering), it helps me. I agree and already pointed out that it would not be a deterrent. Nowhere in my objective did deterrence come up.
You make some good points, points that are worthy of serious consideration for anyone attempting to implement this, but I would say that your points hardly make it impossible, in fact, they illustrate very well what a designer would need to consider! Thanks!

I never said that *anything* was impossible. I simply pointed out that IF the password was compiled into the bootloader, then THAT would be extremely dangerous since rather than trying out a tried and true bootloader, every change of password would be a serious brick-risk.
Regarding partition vs file, there is no difference. A partition *IS* a file in a very simple filesystem -- that which we refer to as a "partition table". As such, the risk is identical. I certainly did not suggest that a bootloader is incapable of reading a filesystem, the reverse is in fact, and MUST be true, since if the bootloader couldn't read the filesystem, then how is it to load something that is stored on said filesystem? The point is that if the filesystem were in some manner corrupted, overwritten, updated, etc., then so is your ability to boot the system PERMANENTLY, unless you maintain fastboot prior to the password, in which case it is trivial to boot off a different system image anyways, or unless you go to hardware level to unbrick the device, the same approach, of course, could be used by someone else to gain access.
Oh, and when you say "My personal threat model would assume that my data is less valuable to a thief than my phone is.", that suggests that your priorities are hardware first and then data.
I still say that the most feasible approach to this is selective encryption. Keep the important data from being accessed and not worry about the hardware, since there is no technical way to make it undesirable to a thief except, of course, to make it real ugly. Pack the thing into an old-style Palm case. Take a look into LUKS. It could *definitely* be made to work and is probably easier than you think. What you would have to do is first install support for it at the system level (that might require that you rebuild the kernel), encrypt a partition on the SDCARD with it, and link password, mount, and unmount into the lock screen. Once thats done, you just move and symlink important data onto the encrypted partition. For that matter, you don't even need to automate it with the lock screen, you can just write an app to password, mount, and unmount, or even run it from the terminal. Yes, this is just a linux device. This approach is barely more than trivial.

I never said that *anything* was impossible.
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Sorry, the sentence below sounded like you were implying that it is was impossible.
No, bootloader password won't help you here, and I already explained why.
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Oh, and when you say "My personal threat model would assume that my data is less valuable to a thief than my phone is.", that suggests that your priorities are hardware first and then data.
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No, it suggests that those are the priorties of the thief. I don't believe a thief would steal my phone for its data. I accept that it can be stolen easily or that I might simply leave it on a table in a restaurant or something. At that point I would simply prefer that no one be able to easily snoop my personal affairs. Currently it is VERY easy. I had adb access to my phone before even using the screen, (I needed to register via wifi), it really is simple, it takes little expertise.
Regarding partition vs file, there is no difference. A partition *IS* a file in a very simple filesystem -- that which we refer to as a "partition table". As such, the risk is identical. I certainly did not suggest that a bootloader is incapable of reading a filesystem, the reverse is in fact, and MUST be true, since if the bootloader couldn't read the filesystem, then how is it to load something that is stored on said filesystem?
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Call it what you will, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt.
Many bootloaders do not understand the filesystem they load from, they simply get a pre-created list of the disk blocks to load a kernel from and then load them and execute them.
The point is that if the filesystem were in some manner corrupted, overwritten, updated, etc., then so is your ability to boot the system PERMANENTLY, unless you maintain fastboot prior to the password, in which case it is trivial to boot off a different system image anyways, or unless you go to hardware level to unbrick the device, the same approach, of course, could be used by someone else to gain access.
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For someone who seems to understand things well, you seem to willingly miss important points already mentioned:
With this you could reduce most "brick risk" by providing a "boot from external kernel for recovery after wiping the partitions" option.
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You encryption points are well taken, they probably would be simple to implement, however they would likely have a significant performance impact.

MartinFick said:
You encryption points are well taken, they probably would be simple to implement, however they would likely have a significant performance impact.
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Only if you're encrypting everything (i.e. programs). There is no reason to encrypt everything -- just encrypt the data you want to protect. There is no reason to bother encrypting apps that you install or the operating system since this is all available elsewhere. If you have private documents, emails, etc., keep those encrypted. The performance impact will be negligible since these files will be fairly small.

[Q] Encryption

Hey there. Can't find any info about encryption and what it brings, so I'll just fire away a few questions about details for that matter. Not that I'm so obsessed with security, more like just curious about the possibility. And keeping things under protection is nice when dealing with business stuff.
What encryption brings? Only data in encrypted, or apps/system too?
Would someone be able to get something from TF by connecting it to a PC? Or he will fail even using ADB or nvflash?
How secure we're speaking about? Any info on encryption method and key length in bits.
If I forget my password, or any other weird thing happen, could I reset it with nvflash, loading new clean images? Maybe encrypted volumes are handled differently, and it's not so easy...
Clockwork Recovery. Would it work perfectly fine with encrypted tablet?
Custom ROMs (like Prime!). Any possible problems when messing with system files without total wipe?
Performance. How bad it could be affected? I'm not sure Tegra2 has RSA-optimized module built-in (or whatever method it's using).
Unlocking. Will I be prompted to enter password every time I see unlock screen, or only when I reboot?
Any known limitations, like password length (I like to set long passwords, it's more efficient and easier to remember).

Bump - heard that HC 3.2 enabled encryption at last. Anyone tried it and can answer any of my questions?

Never done it myself, but from information I read:
tixed said:
Hey there. Can't find any info about encryption and what it brings, so I'll just fire away a few questions about details for that matter. Not that I'm so obsessed with security, more like just curious about the possibility. And keeping things under protection is nice when dealing with business stuff.
What encryption brings? Only data in encrypted, or apps/system too?
Would someone be able to get something from TF by connecting it to a PC? Or he will fail even using ADB or nvflash?
How secure we're speaking about? Any info on encryption method and key length in bits.
If I forget my password, or any other weird thing happen, could I reset it with nvflash, loading new clean images? Maybe encrypted volumes are handled differently, and it's not so easy...
Clockwork Recovery. Would it work perfectly fine with encrypted tablet?
I guess this should be fine.
Custom ROMs (like Prime!). Any possible problems when messing with system files without total wipe?
Performance. How bad it could be affected? I'm not sure Tegra2 has RSA-optimized module built-in (or whatever method it's using).
I read that this would have lesser performance since it has to be decrypted on fly and also affects battery.
Unlocking. Will I be prompted to enter password every time I see unlock screen, or only when I reboot?
I guess every time when you unlock.
Any known limitations, like password length (I like to set long passwords, it's more efficient and easier to remember).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I found THIS little tid bit after a Google search.
I do know that it does NOT encrypt your removable MicroSD card or SD card. The encryption can take a considerable amount of time to encrypt all your data (1 to 3 hrs and has to be powered on and at 100%). It will require a PIN or Password prompt at power on and possibly for other data sensitive action. It will also allow for password mining which is the process by which you are required to reenter a new password after so long. Also once you encrypt the only way back is a factory reset. If you lose your PIN or Password your SOL about getting your sensitive data back.
You might be better off using an app that can encrypt individual files that you choose.
Cheers...

tixed said:
What encryption brings? Only data in encrypted, or apps/system too?
Would someone be able to get something from TF by connecting it to a PC? Or he will fail even using ADB or nvflash?
How secure we're speaking about? Any info on encryption method and key length in bits.
If I forget my password, or any other weird thing happen, could I reset it with nvflash, loading new clean images? Maybe encrypted volumes are handled differently, and it's not so easy...
Clockwork Recovery. Would it work perfectly fine with encrypted tablet?
Custom ROMs (like Prime!). Any possible problems when messing with system files without total wipe?
Performance. How bad it could be affected? I'm not sure Tegra2 has RSA-optimized module built-in (or whatever method it's using).
Unlocking. Will I be prompted to enter password every time I see unlock screen, or only when I reboot?
Any known limitations, like password length (I like to set long passwords, it's more efficient and easier to remember).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had a brief experience with encryption before I wiped back to stock. I would strongly recommend against it unless you wish to stick to a stock system and very much need that type of security. From what I remember of my experience:
The data partition is encrypted (not sure what else, but not MicroSD). When your device boots, a prompt that somewhat resembles a lockscreen pops fairly early on when the OS attempts to mount those partition(s). Thereafter, everything is accessible as usual; you can grab things via ADB. You do not have to constantly enter the password (though you would probably want to lockscreen your device as general good practice). As to what nvflash would get you, I'm not sure, since that would be before the partition mount...probably nothing usable. The problem with having an encrypted partition is that CWM at moment can't really do anything useful to those partitions. You cannot flash, backup, or restore via CWM. This means your ability to work with custom ROMs is effectively crippled. In fact, to undo the encryption (or if you forget your password), I had to nvflash back to stock. Factory reset via CWM cannot be done since, again, the partitions are still encrypted.
If in the future, CWM is able to access the partitions like the stock recovery can, then you'd be fine. Performance was not noticeably slower in anyway.

Thanks for the replies. This feature seems pretty grim at the moment. Well, we can all hope that Google and ASUS will update it properly. At least, they did a lot of good updates recently.

[Q] Anyone familiar with device encryption? Can you school me a little?

I am wanting to encrypt my phone and sd card. I have been reading around about it all week and still don't understand a few things. I though that the encryption was like blackberry encryption, where you put the password in every time you turn the phone on to the screen lock. After a bit of reading, I understand that the "decryption" is only done at boot up by putting the password in once. After that, you have to put the same password in at the screen lock simply because of a limitation of Android not allowing two different passwords. I do know that there are new ways to use a different password on the screen lock, and even a pattern lock, that's not my issue.
Here are my questions....
1) If the device is technically decrypted after boot up, is the screen lock the only security on the phone once it's turned on?
2) Does the screen lock of an encrypted device have any stronger security than that of an unencrypted device? If not, it seems like the phone is still very vulnerable as long as it's turned on.
3) Finally, on a Blackberry, a wipe is performed by erasing the encryption key. This makes an almost instant wipe of the whole phone and sd card. I know an encrypted device has to be wiped the same as an unencrypted device, but is Android programmed in a way that the encryption ket is wiped first, in case someone pulls a battery or forces a phone off during a wipe? I know that's far-fetched, just curious about how it works.

No way to require passphrase on startup!

I just got my pixel, and found two very bitter disappointments. First, as expected, even an unrooted device will not pass safetynet (i.e., let you run android pay) if you've unlocked the bootloader.
Second, however, and a bit more of a shock, there appears to be no way to require a passphrase on bootup. The option on the nexus 5X and 6P that you get while selecting a PIN simply does not exist. So does this mean there is basically no way to secure my phone?
This is doubly infuriating. On one hand Google wants to prevent me from learning my own device encryption keys, supposedly in the name of security. But then on the other hand, they reserve the right to extract my keys themselves if they ever sign a backdoored bootloader (that can extract the now unencrypted keys from firmware).
For me the whole benefit of the fingerprint reader has been that it lets me select a very long boot passphrase, since I don't have to type it to unlock the phone. However, I'm now seriously considering removing the PIN from my lockscreen so I don't delude myself into storing anything of value on my phone.
Am I the only one super annoyed at these security developments?

Mine asks for my pin on first login.

Moogagot said:
Mine asks for my pin on first login.
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Yes, but by the time it prompts for a PIN, it has clearly already decrypted the flash storage. So this means that if your bootloader is unlocked, someone could have messed with your system partition to bypass the lockscreen.

15xda said:
Yes, but by the time it prompts for a PIN, it has clearly already decrypted the flash storage. So this means that if your bootloader is unlocked, someone could have messed with your system partition to bypass the lockscreen.
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That's not true. With device encrypted data and Direct Boot enabled, this restricted mode allows apps to perform limited actions and access non-personal data (i.e. specific system files), allowing it to boot up to the lock screen securely without any user interaction.
You have to enable it though, by going to developer options and selecting "covert to file encryption”. This WILL perform a factory reset though.

msaitta said:
That's not true. With device encrypted data and Direct Boot enabled, this restricted mode allows apps to perform limited actions and access non-personal data (i.e. specific system files), allowing it to boot up to the lock screen securely without any user interaction.
You have to enable it though, by going to developer options and selecting "covert to file encryption”. This WILL perform a factory reset though.
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There is no "convert to file encryption" option in the developer options on the Pixel. Anyway, since the lock screen shows personal images and notifications and such, clearly a lot of data is available if someone decrypts the file system, even if there were an option to double-encrypt a few individual sensitive files. Anyway, what are the chances that every app developer encrypts every file I care about? This is why I want full device encryption, and I want full device encryption without storing my keys someplace where a backdoored bootloader can get at them.

15xda said:
Anyway, since the lock screen shows personal images and notifications and such, clearly a lot of data is available if someone decrypts the file system, even if there were an option to double-encrypt a few individual sensitive files.
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Well, I stand partially corrected, actually. The device definitely seems to show some of my settings on reboot, like, for instance, volume. On the other hand, it can't receive VOIP calls (suggesting it doesn't have access to the SIP password I configured in the dialer), and incoming mobile calls don't show the contact name. So I guess it does offer some protection, but it's much harder to figure out what.

In case anyone lands on this thread, here is an explanation of what is happening on bootup:
https://developer.android.com/training/articles/direct-boot.html
The short answer is Pixel uses file-based-encryption now instead of disk-based encryption. I'm still not happy about this design because it somewhat reduces privacy and potentially complicates examining applications as root, but it's not as bad as I originally throught.

Making the S8+ completely theft proof

Hey!
It's my first post here so it this isn't the best place for such a question then by all means mods pls move the thread to where it should be
Basically, where I'm currently living (Brazil), things tend to get pretty violent and phone thefts are very common. Now the thing is, if it's an iPhone usually the thieves just throw it away, as once it's locked it becomes useless. When it comes to Android though, some of them will dig deep trying to access your info like pictures, passwords, bank information, among other things. They even manage to break IMEI locks and stuff. I got my S5 stolen recently and the information theft part put me through hell. Yet, I'd much rather have an S8+ then any other iPhone currently, so my question is how could I completely theft proof it?
I'm not really worried about them restoring the phone and reselling it, more about them accessing the data inside of it. I know the SD card can be protected through cryptography (although would accept "stronger" tips if there are any). When it comes to apps, aside from the basics of trusting what you install and stuff, are apps like Cerberus, Knox 2.0, or other Samsung features I'm not aware of, any good against someone who knows what they're doing? Is there a way to disable airplane mode or power offs? Also what is probably my strongest concern: is there a way to completely not allow system changes through a computer, like the one that removes the lock screen?
Being a programmer and computer science undergrad student (although not specializing in security nor mobile), I'd have no problem if the solutions would involve some coding or tweaking, just as long as they prove to be effective.
So, would you guys have any tips on how to completely secure the data given those concerns?

The sd card can be Encrypted and if you have a password lock (fingerprint irsi etc...) then it will ask for that before it will unlock the phone.
Also they have a remote wipe. You can log i to google and remote wipe your phone when you found out its been stolen.

You can set the phone to require a password to decrypt it when it's restarted. You can encrypt the SD card too. You can set it to lock instantly when the screen turns off. And you can use only a password to unlock it (no biometrics), which is the most secure option (if you use a suitable password). Finally, you can set the phone so that you can wipe it remotely, or to wipe itself after a number of consecutive incorrect password attempts. But even without the last two measures, your data will be unreadable without your password.
Unfortunately, though, if thieves are violent enough, they may be able to coerce you into divulging the password. If they succeed, they have full access to your phone.

Gary02468 said:
You can set the phone to require a password to decrypt it when it's restarted. You can encrypt the SD card too. You can set it to lock instantly when the screen turns off. And you can use only a password to unlock it (no biometrics), which is the most secure option (if you use a suitable password). Finally, you can set the phone so that you can wipe it remotely, or to wipe itself after a number of consecutive incorrect password attempts. But even without the last two measures, your data will be unreadable without your password.
Unfortunately, though, if thieves are violent enough, they may be able to coerce you into divulging the password. If they succeed, they have full access to your phone.
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What about stuff like that Dr. Fone Toolkit that supposedly removes the lock screen? From the quick look I took it seems it somehow patches the Android on the phone to remove the lock screen. Is there some sort of system encryption/lock to avoid that kind of stuff when connected to a computer?
xile6 said:
The sd card can be Encrypted and if you have a password lock (fingerprint irsi etc...) then it will ask for that before it will unlock the phone.
Also they have a remote wipe. You can log i to google and remote wipe your phone when you found out its been stolen.
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Usually they just put it on airplane mode though, so google remote wipe is useless... Which is why I was looking for more of an offline fix through cryptography and such

I use smart Lockscreen protector to prevent somebody putting my phone to airline mode or shutting it down ( It won't help phones with removable battery)

If you have the phone encrypted and have the require pin on boot set. And you have the Qualcomm version that is locked down you have nothing to worry about.
Even the iPhone 7 has been jail broken or rooted the S8 with the Qualcomm chip is one of only a few phones that have not been hacked. It's actually WAY more secure than an iPhone.

lvrma said:
What about stuff like that Dr. Fone Toolkit that supposedly removes the lock screen? From the quick look I took it seems it somehow patches the Android on the phone to remove the lock screen. Is there some sort of system encryption/lock to avoid that kind of stuff when connected to a computer?
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The phone is completely encrypted, so if you set it to require a password to restart and to turn the screen back on, then its contents are unreadable without the password regardless of how you connect to it.

lvrma said:
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Usually they just put it on airplane mode though, so google remote wipe is useless... Which is why I was looking for more of an offline fix through cryptography and such
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If you have a lock screen set you can lock the status of your phone(wifi state, airplane mode, power settings). This way you have to unlock it to toggle these modes.

I just ran across this, some good advice.
http://thedroidguy.com/2017/04/setu...security-features-tutorials-1071462#Tutorial1

lvrma said:
What about stuff like that Dr. Fone Toolkit that supposedly removes the lock screen? From the quick look I took it seems it somehow patches the Android on the phone to remove the lock screen. Is there some sort of system encryption/lock to avoid that kind of stuff when connected to a computer?
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Click to collapse
Like you, I'm interested with this topic, but unlike you, I would like the theief to have a useless phone if they cant unlock it. So that they would think twice the next time they want to steal an android. Else they would just continue stealing since you just put the phone on download mode, connect to a computer and root it.
About your question. Isnt disabling usb debugging mode on developer option block that risk? Also in my note 4, enabling knox will prevent your device from being rooted, at least thats what i understand from the description. i wonder where it is in s8.
speaking of knox, s8 has "Secure folder". its like a secured environment within a phone. Everything you put in here will be protected by knox. Apps, accounts, files, etc. And it would ask for another security to access it(pattern/pin/password).
lvrma said:
Usually they just put it on airplane mode though, so google remote wipe is useless... Which is why I was looking for more of an offline fix through cryptography and such
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you mentioned cerberus app, it has a function than can wipe device memory and wipe sd card via SMS command. so if you are fast enough, while the thief is running away and before he pulls out your sim card from the phone, you can send an sms command to wipe data.
Since you mentioned you are a programmer, this may be interesting to you, locking download mode and recovery mode on android to prevent thief from flashing hack to your phone. but this require a bit of patience if android isnt your forte.
https://ge0n0sis.github.io/posts/20...-mode-using-an-undocumented-feature-of-aboot/

BratPAQ said:
Like you, I'm interested with this topic, but unlike you, I would like the theief to have a useless phone if they cant unlock it. So that they would think twice the next time they want to steal an android. Else they would just continue stealing since you just put the phone on download mode, connect to a computer and root it.
About your question. Isnt disabling usb debugging mode on developer option block that risk? Also in my note 4, enabling knox will prevent your device from being rooted, at least thats what i understand from the description. i wonder where it is in s8.
speaking of knox, s8 has "Secure folder". its like a secured environment within a phone. Everything you put in here will be protected by knox. Apps, accounts, files, etc. And it would ask for another security to access it(pattern/pin/password).
you mentioned cerberus app, it has a function than can wipe device memory and wipe sd card via SMS command. so if you are fast enough, while the thief is running away and before he pulls out your sim card from the phone, you can send an sms command to wipe data.
Since you mentioned you are a programmer, this may be interesting to you, locking download mode and recovery mode on android to prevent thief from flashing hack to your phone. but this require a bit of patience if android isnt your forte.
https://ge0n0sis.github.io/posts/20...-mode-using-an-undocumented-feature-of-aboot/
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Click to collapse
Don't put your phone anywhere besides your pocket. Get a cover that makes it look like as different phone with a cracked screen.

the easiest way to encrypt sd and phone, enable adoptable storage.

cantenna said:
the easiest way to encrypt sd and phone, enable adoptable storage.
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How is that easier than just selecting the Settings options to encrypt the SD card and to require a password to unlock upon restart?
---------- Post added at 06:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:11 AM ----------
lvrma said:
Usually they just put it on airplane mode though, so google remote wipe is useless[.] Which is why I was looking for more of an offline fix through cryptography and such
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and even without airplane mode, they can physically enclose the phone to block all electronic signals. Encrypting the phone (and SD card), using a secure password as the sole unlock method, affords the strongest protection against all attacks (except coercing the password from you).

Gary02468 said:
How is that easier than just selecting the Settings options to encrypt the SD card and to require a password to unlock upon restart?
---------- Post added at 06:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:11 AM ----------
Yes, and even without airplane mode, they can physically enclose the phone to block all electronic signals. Encrypting the phone (and SD card), using a secure password as the sole unlock method, affords the strongest protection against all attacks (except coercing the password from you).
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Click to collapse
oh yea, may bad, i often assume everyone on xda is here because there interested in unlocked boot loaders, root and custom kernels. My recomindation applies only to people who have unlocked pandor's box only.
the method of encyption you suggested the isnt availble for users like me but we can enable adoptable storage which does encrypt the system by other means and it is compatible with root, etc

dynospectrum said:
Don't put your phone anywhere besides your pocket. Get a cover that makes it look like as different phone with a cracked screen.
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Click to collapse
Where can you get/ how can you make such a cover?
Also sometimes when I'm in bad Areas, I go to developer options and turn on some of the screen update stuff, so it flashes the screen purple a lot and make it look messed up.