Database Info

How safe are used phones?

I am looking to buy a used captivate soon and I had an alarming thought..
To make purchases from google market you do have to enter credit card info..
So what if someone bought the phone, installed monitoring software on the phone, turned around and sold it.. They could break even on cost.. *AND* if they were lucky when someone else went to use the phone.. they would get the cred card info of that person..
And on ebay/craigslist... its not like you could pin it back to the person very easily..
Assuming I bought a phone and master reset it would that fix any possibly problems? I know in windows you reinstalling the OS will usually wipe just about anything out..
However, I know that if you have root.. on a phone you can do far more.. I don't know if having root would be enough to put something on the phone that could not be gotten rid of with a simple master reset.
I am sorry if this sounds paranoid.. But, I am a comp sci major.. Software security isn't my specialty.. but, I am hoping to dev for phones soon and think this is a pretty fair question, since the information is handled differently in linux (and I suppose now android) than it would be on a comp running windows xp for example..
I am asking because i know even after a master reset some things linger on most phones... so if someone installed a keylogger of some sort.. would it be able to survive a master reset?
x.x

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean the're not after you.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Lol... Let me put it this way.. I once read an article hear with some one talking about how he doesn't want "google knowing where he is" and "google reading his mail" ect ect ect.
And I understand privacy concerns.. but, he was well.. reaching the point of flat out goofy.
I am asking based on what I perceive to be a valid fear looking at it from a logical perspective.
If someone installed some sort of keylogger for the phone, would it be able to survive a master reset?
I mean I know that whats on your sim card is not usually deleted.. and I forget if this phone has dedicated or removable memory or some combination of both..
However, assuming its a 16gb removable.. You could hypothetically install it to the flash memory.. If its not removable.. I am less certain how that dedicated storage is handled on phones. I know that you generally format a hard drive before installing an os.. or it gets partitioned off..
So if a logger was installed onto the dedicated/removeable memory would it be partitioned off and allowed to continue working?
If I didn't see valid cause for concern I wouldn't be here.. But, I'm sure the devs around here know more about this and can give a good answer!
If this is all coming to my mind... I'm sure some crazy cracker out there has already thought of and either created/working on implimenting it.

google will nevr read your mail. google is your friend!
if you have a virus on it or think you have, plug it in your computer and scan with av software.
i don't think that a virus could survive master reset.
and why are you worrying about this? ive bought second hand phones before and they have been ok.
try eBay.

You don't seem to have read my thing properly.
What I am trying to say is I have read an thread with a guy who was paranoid google was going to read his mail ect.
What I am saying is I'm worried about a second hand person creating a virus.
I could be wrong but, plugging the phone into a computer would do absolutely nothing as far as antivirus protection if I'm worried about protecting the phone.
The reason why is because anti virus protection only picks up virus's it is designed to pick up.
It is designed to pick up viruses that are a threat to computers.
I would imagine that computer anti virus software would worry about a different set of exploits than a linux based phone.
Making scanning with a computer completely useless.

yes, keylogger can survive hard reset. you have to reflash your phone completely to be sure. or don't provide your credit card number in any market

Hard reset and reflash official software. Everything will be like it just rolled out of the factory.

Pretty silly thing to ask really.
obviosuly if teh key logger was cooked into the rom then a master reset wont do sweet FA as it would simply be re-installed with the rom.
As mentioned your only way is flash the phone with a fresh rom.

Does this worry you?

http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/11/24/android.data.exploit.fix.may.be.limited.to.23/
Watch the video too--what do you guys think?

xredjokerx said:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/11/24/android.data.exploit.fix.may.be.limited.to.23/
Watch the video too--what do you guys think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope...doesn't worry me

OK, it is a real vulnerability, but because you have to know the file name on the SD card, what is the exploit really stealing? Only if some application stores its files on SD, and names this super secret file the same for everyone. Also, if the file is in plain text, then it is not really super secret to start with.
Real vulnerability, but easily mitigated by encrypted sensitive data. If you lose your phone, you have the same problem - I don't think you can remote wipe an SD card, and the thief could pop it out before you do anyway.
So, no real worry IMO.

Google is aware of the issue but has unusually said that the fix will come only with Android 2.3, or Gingerbread. The company didn't explain why it couldn't or wouldn't patch earlier versions but may leave many devices vulnerable due to the fragmented nature of Android updating, Cannon said.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
--from the article
Not to defend Samsung because via my experience with the captivate it has confirmed my belief that their support is terrible, but my first thought upon reading that paragraph was that if Samsung had issued a statement like there would already be 50 posts bashing samsung and their lack of dedication to provide good service to their customers.

Not worried at all. Nothing on my phone to steal.
What does worry me is this statement: "Google is aware of the issue but has unusually said that the fix will come only with Android 2.3, or Gingerbread."
We may never see Gingerbread for this device, that's what worries me the most.

Google should make a patch for existing OS available as well as addressing it in 2.3. Especially since they can't make manufacturers build new releases.

I don't have anything on my phone that would put me in jeopardy anyway, so no.

WTF, really? If you went to a website that started downloading stuff in the background, wouldn't you use task manager and close the browser and/or turn off your data connection as soon as possible? You can clearly see at :55 where it starts downloading a file.
It sucks that Android 2.2 has a vulnerability, but it's all about user behavior. I've gone without an actively scanning virus scanner on my Windows desktop for the last 4 or 5 years and have never once gotten accidentally infected. Security is more about user behavior than it is about fixing every single possible flaw, including those that require knowing the exact path of the files you want to steal from someone.

Possibly cloned phone need advice

Hey I need some advice I have a HTC One V CDMA 4.0.3 rooted none of the OTA patches through Cricket,
Last 2 months 3 or 4 times a week I dial someone's number from my phone book and it will ring like normal but all of a sudden I will start hearing a lady's voice she will say random stuff then she will pause and like usual I will ask who she is and why she is doing this to me she will start laughing and then state "I know you better than you know your self" she will then pause and wait then start talking about things that have gone on in my house that only me my wife and my children know about... I'm really upset and cricket isn't helping me and I am at the point where I am really concerned.
If anyone has any ideas please share I am at wits end and my computer is down so I can't access anything online except for on my phone.
Thanks
Sent from my HTC One V using Tapatalk 2

When did this start occuring? Was it after you downloaded a specific application? Have you ever left your phone unattended? Since you have a CDMA phone, it is extremely difficult to clone your phone compared to a GSM phone, since you do not have a SIM card in your device. If you can find the suspect app and remove it, it should take care of your problems, however, I would recommend getting a new device since it sounds like your device has already been compromised.

I would contact the authorities immediately. If you're in the US, it's probable the FBI will get involved as that would probably fall under the category of wiretapping, which holds serious federal penalties.

I've never left my phone unattended I always keep it with me even at night I'm disabled and have to be able to get to a phone at all times.
I agree I should get a new handset I was hoping to be able to ride this out until the end of the month.
I've tried contacting local authorities they didn't seem to understand or grasp the concept of what was going on.
As for the app idea I may get try that and see if it does it any more I do have a packet tracer app I might run it and see if it shows any weird activity from certain apps.
If worse comes to worse I'll contact a friend of mine who I went to school with he is a fbi agent and see what he says... I'm a old school hacker of sorts if I had stable wifi and a working pc and could VPN through my pc and run a sniffer the whole time I am sure I would be able to figure this out in a snap.
Thanks for the replies.
Sent from my HTC One V using Tapatalk 2

[Q] downgrade to HTC sense 4

Hello Everybody,
Im having a very frustrating experience. I just had my htc one x replaced by at&t after damaging the screen. I actually bought a new screen to put it on myself but when I was expressing nervousness about installing it (despite doing it fine before on a previous device) somebody else in my family called at&t and bought me a $99 replacement using the replacement plan as a present and a favor. It's the same exact physical phone as my old one, but things are different on it, and I don't like it. I figured out the issue is that the phone came shipped with HTC sense version of atleast 5 (found this by googling pics) while my old phone had 4. I like 4.. not 5.
Don't even get me started on why. Biggest thing is changing from 5 or 6 home pages to scroll through to only 3. I loved having the space. I never even used the app menu, haha.
Of course, looking it up now this seems to be a pain. Ive been sitting here for hours and this data is so hard to get through because of HTCs airheaded desicion to have 6 different phones with the same name. I feel like im going insane with contradictory info and google just not delivering due to the confusing names. I keep getting info for the desire x, too.
My main question is: I have an at&t htc one x and I need to downgrade to sense version 4. How do i do it, and can somebody point me to the correct video (preferred) or thread for this task for my phone? I don't care how much of a pain it is I will figure it out. I'm also terrified I can't do it because I've been hearing rubbish about the at&t version of this phone...
Im so frustrated. Isn't android based on linux? So why is everything so closed and proprietary? Open source being used to make money and force people to have one version of a program? Not having control over what I have on my device and being able to customize it how I choose to the point where I am forced into a new version of software I don't like? Oh and not to mention that I can't uninstall facebook and twitter which I don't use. I hate this. I loved my phone but this is making me so angry. This is the exact thing I HATE about certain electronics. I want to have things how I want them, it's mine. I'm picky. I like customizing all my things and having them to suit me. I'm a control freak with computers.... end rant.
Thank you very much for any help,
Nichyun
*flower bouquets for helpers*

Nichyun said:
Hello Everybody,
Im having a very frustrating experience. I just had my htc one x replaced by at&t after damaging the screen. I actually bought a new screen to put it on myself but when I was expressing nervousness about installing it (despite doing it fine before on a previous device) somebody else in my family called at&t and bought me a $99 replacement using the replacement plan as a present and a favor. It's the same exact physical phone as my old one, but things are different on it, and I don't like it. I figured out the issue is that the phone came shipped with HTC sense version of atleast 5 (found this by googling pics) while my old phone had 4. I like 4.. not 5.
Don't even get me started on why. Biggest thing is changing from 5 or 6 home pages to scroll through to only 3. I loved having the space. I never even used the app menu, haha.
Of course, looking it up now this seems to be a pain. Ive been sitting here for hours and this data is so hard to get through because of HTCs airheaded desicion to have 6 different phones with the same name. I feel like im going insane with contradictory info and google just not delivering due to the confusing names. I keep getting info for the desire x, too.
My main question is: I have an at&t htc one x and I need to downgrade to sense version 4. How do i do it, and can somebody point me to the correct video (preferred) or thread for this task for my phone? I don't care how much of a pain it is I will figure it out. I'm also terrified I can't do it because I've been hearing rubbish about the at&t version of this phone...
Im so frustrated. Isn't android based on linux? So why is everything so closed and proprietary? Open source being used to make money and force people to have one version of a program? Not having control over what I have on my device and being able to customize it how I choose to the point where I am forced into a new version of software I don't like? Oh and not to mention that I can't uninstall facebook and twitter which I don't use. I hate this. I loved my phone but this is making me so angry. This is the exact thing I HATE about certain electronics. I want to have things how I want them, it's mine. I'm picky. I like customizing all my things and having them to suit me. I'm a control freak with computers.... end rant.
Thank you very much for any help,
Nichyun
*flower bouquets for helpers*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think you quite understand how android works. You dont need to use the Sense homescreen if you dont want to. Install Nova Launcher (or any launcher) from the Play Store and you can customize it however you want. Theres no way to downgrade Sense without rooting. As for uninstalling Facebook and Twitter, you should be able to "disable" them in Settings>Apps. If you truly want an open experience with Android, you will have to root and install CyanogenMod, PA, SlimKat or one of the many other custom ROMs available. However, it is not something you can just follow a simple video to do. I'm not even sure the latest AT&T software is rootable. Someone else will have to chime in there.

ThisWasATriumph said:
I dont think you quite understand how android works. You dont need to use the Sense homescreen if you dont want to. Install Nova Launcher (or any launcher) from the Play Store and you can customize it however you want. Theres no way to downgrade Sense without rooting. As for uninstalling Facebook and Twitter, you should be able to "disable" them in Settings>Apps. If you truly want an open experience with Android, you will have to root and install CyanogenMod, PA, SlimKat or one of the many other custom ROMs available. However, it is not something you can just follow a simple video to do. I'm not even sure the latest AT&T software is rootable. Someone else will have to chime in there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really dont get it, I guess thats why i posted here, ill admit that. Thanks for the info... I'll look into all of that. I don't want to try to root the phone though, I' rather get used to it, I suppose. I dont want to mess it up, not worth it. It is frustrating to me that I cant delete certain apps because they're really big and there is no sd card slot in this phone so I run out of memory. I feel like facebook and twitter is everywhere it pushes itself on people which bothers me...
I guess this question could be considered answered because I figured out I dont want to do it any more.

Nichyun said:
I really dont get it, I guess thats why i posted here, ill admit that. Thanks for the info... I'll look into all of that. I don't want to try to root the phone though, I' rather get used to it, I suppose. I dont want to mess it up, not worth it. It is frustrating to me that I cant delete certain apps because they're really big and there is no sd card slot in this phone so I run out of memory. I feel like facebook and twitter is everywhere it pushes itself on people which bothers me...
I guess this question could be considered answered because I figured out I dont want to do it any more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps installed on the phone do not take up your main phone storage. There are two separate disk partitions. The first one is ~2GB and holds your OS and applications. The second is ~10GB and holds your pictures, videos, external app data etc. Thats what an SD card would add on to if we had one. Installing more apps (that don't have extra parts, games often do for example) won't take up anymore of that space though. (however it is possible to install apps to the SD card) Anyways, like I said you can go into settings and "disable" any apps you don't want to show up in the app drawer anymore.

What is proof that my ex spies on my phons

So my recent ex boyfriend did something to my phone and was spying on me. He knew things that he would only know bc he had access to everything on my phone. Before u think I'm just paranoid I will say that he has been charged with a crime for doin this to someone else years ago. I think he flashed my phone to do whatever he did. He's very very smart when it comes to technology, he has about 6 laptops and works with computers. He even made the comment once that if he wanted to spy on my phone that it wouldn't matter bc I could never prove it. With one of my phone's I used to could put it in recovery mode but then one day it wouldn't go into recovery mode anymore, I have two build prop files when I used to have only 1. My question is where exactly would a folder be that has a file that wpild prove he spies on me, he's too confident that he can't be caught and admitted he's done it to his exes. This is illegal and wrong and he shouldn't get away with it. I saw something called conspy and cttyhack but I'm not sure if he put it on my phone or if that's just on some phones help me please, there has to be something in a folder I'm just unsure where to look

You could try Malwarebytes and scan your phone. I seem to mention this a lot around here but I've had good results helping friends and family when they screw something up.
Best bet is to wipe and factory reset.

KernelCorn said:
You could try Malwarebytes and scan your phone. I seem to mention this a lot around here but I've had good results helping friends and family when they screw something up.
Best bet is to wipe and factory reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset doesn't help. I know he flashed my phone so idk what he has programmed in the phone but he did something and I need to find the proof

Really really good question but you will hate the answer lol
To answer your question, you would need to seek someone with a reasonable level of tech (ideally) who is preferably certified or holds some form of IT credentials to present your case to the authorities. They would use a forensics program (such as EnCase® Forensic ) to make an exact replica of your phones data. Not to mention you would also need someone else (with a very high tech skill set) to be able to actually identify the malicious behaviour of your phone.... not super hard but can be.... if you were to just take your phone straight to the police yourself with your story .... I highly doubt much would come from it. Even if you can prove what you are saying is true AND you have your infected phone as evidence..... you still have no evidence he did it. Even if your friend was there with you and both watched the entire re flashing etc.... You are still beat... I am going to guess you would need no less than full video of him doing it and even then it would be very shaky.... who's phone was it etc etc ....non malicious hacks (to non celebs and elites) is run of the mill and they probably have about 0.1% of the IT personnel needed at their disposal.... long story short.... errr longish ... I would HIGHLY suggest replacing your phone or taking a chance and getting help from random "tech" Those are your two options.... or you could also get famous overnight I guess..... your call. :good:

Basically you can't prove he did it
But you can testify that he manually flashed a rom to your phone
You can get any decent intelligent tech company to dump your Rom
And compare it to the original rom for changes..
And if those changes are detrimental you have a civil case against him..
But for what it will cost you in tech fees and lawyer bills
Buy 10 new phones and don't let anyone touch them.

cutie28345 said:
So my recent ex boyfriend did something to my phone and was spying on me. He knew things that he would only know bc he had access to everything on my phone. Before u think I'm just paranoid I will say that he has been charged with a crime for doin this to someone else years ago. I think he flashed my phone to do whatever he did. He's very very smart when it comes to technology, he has about 6 laptops and works with computers. He even made the comment once that if he wanted to spy on my phone that it wouldn't matter bc I could never prove it. With one of my phone's I used to could put it in recovery mode but then one day it wouldn't go into recovery mode anymore, I have two build prop files when I used to have only 1. My question is where exactly would a folder be that has a file that wpild prove he spies on me, he's too confident that he can't be caught and admitted he's done it to his exes. This is illegal and wrong and he shouldn't get away with it. I saw something called conspy and cttyhack but I'm not sure if he put it on my phone or if that's just on some phones help me please, there has to be something in a folder I'm just unsure where to look
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use a firewall and see which apps have UNUSUALLY many permissions.
i think he used d*****ack, (sorry, i will not post the name of the hack)
Its quite easy to use and CAN be combined with an existing app
it can be used to record voice/video
can even see call logs, messaging history, whatssap etc.
so boot into recovery mode and wipe factory reset FROM recovery, not settings.(if you dont want to check each app manually)

I think he used d- r- o- i- d- j- a- c- k

cutie28345 said:
So my recent ex boyfriend did something to my phone and was spying on me. He knew things that he would only know bc he had access to everything on my phone. Before u think I'm just paranoid I will say that he has been charged with a crime for doin this to someone else years ago. I think he flashed my phone to do whatever he did. He's very very smart when it comes to technology, he has about 6 laptops and works with computers. He even made the comment once that if he wanted to spy on my phone that it wouldn't matter bc I could never prove it. With one of my phone's I used to could put it in recovery mode but then one day it wouldn't go into recovery mode anymore, I have two build prop files when I used to have only 1. My question is where exactly would a folder be that has a file that wpild prove he spies on me, he's too confident that he can't be caught and admitted he's done it to his exes. This is illegal and wrong and he shouldn't get away with it. I saw something called conspy and cttyhack but I'm not sure if he put it on my phone or if that's just on some phones help me please, there has to be something in a folder I'm just unsure where to look
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are just paranoid.
about the build.prop, whenever a change is made, the system saves the original as a backup. so youll have 2. if you dont want to be paranoid anymore, in twrp or cwm recovery, wipe the system then flash another rom or a factory image. wiping the system will delete any rom or anything that was added into your system. you will need to flash a rom before you could boot up again.

I think getting a new phone will be the most hassle free and likely cheapest solution. Turn off the other phone, take out the battery and you will have nothing to worry about it anymore.
Yes you can go and do al kinds of checks yourself, reset it and have some people look at it. But will you ever be sure that there is nothing malicious left on your phone? Just holding the phone that was once (or still is) infected by your (evil?) ex-boyfriend might bring up many emotions. Please don't lose your sleep over this. Spare yourself the trouble and get a new device.
Maybe it was time for an update anyway
Good luck!

If it is a good device, give it to me
Or even a crappy one I have a collection of both)
I'll use it
That will mess with your exs mind..