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i downloaded throttle lock and i forgot my unlock pattern.. and i cannot get inside of my phone. is there a way i can get around it without doing a hard reset?
you should still be able to get into your phone through active sync (throttle lock locks you screen not your phone) from there you can manually navigate to throttle lock program files and edit the file containing the pass code (its a text file)
hold on and i'll find out the name....
EDIT: lockcode.txt
truth334 said:
i downloaded throttle lock and i forgot my unlock pattern.. and i cannot get inside of my phone. is there a way i can get around it without doing a hard reset?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Connect your phone via activesyn and go into the installed directory of throttle lock. There will be a file( cannot remember the name of the file). Inside it is a series of numbers. That series of numbers are your lock code. The numbers starts from the top left hand corner with number 1. Going down will be number 2 and so on.
I just discovered this fact: the full access to the files on your 'locked' phone using ActiveSync... It's a major security flaw!!!!
It's kind of sad since I like this app...
Thanks for the great answer
Yes this worked for me and i didnt loose my text that came in and missed phone calls. it really isnt a security risk. because just like the best car alarm system is no good to you when you have a PRO who really wants your car that alarm doesnt work against them. Throttle Lock is great for the normal folks who dont know what most XDA-Developers members know. if a person gets your throttle locked phone and uses active sync then that thief knew exactly what they were after. normal lose or nosey folks wont have the tools to do such.
Hello people, as I mention in the title my Ascend Mate 7 was stolen from me 2 days ago. I was travelling in Argentina and two "motochorros" (scumbags on a bike) took it from my hand while I was making a call.. ****ty country
Anyways, my question is this, I had configured 2 of my fingerprints and a code to access the phone, is it possible for this people to reset the phone or something so they can resell it?
I have deleted my Google account remotely but wasn't able to locate it with GPS, I guess they haven't connected to the internet. Appreciate your help!
Oh yes it's easy.
Just a root, and a custom recovery is enough to make a wipe data/factory reset...
You just have to know it a little...
You should of pushed a gps app like lookout security to your device to track it. Now that you removed google account you have no access to it.
pystolero said:
Oh yes it's easy.
Just a root, and a custom recovery is enough to make a wipe data/factory reset...
You just have to know it a little...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even without access to the configuration?
geant90 said:
You should of pushed a gps app like lookout security to your device to track it. Now that you removed google account you have no access to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It`s no use, they turned it off as soon as they stole it, I asume they also removed the SIM, gps was off at the moment and they didnt connect the phone to the internet. I know because I removed the Google account 4 days after they stole it and the last connection and gps location was when they stole it. So as Pyestolero said I figure they found a way to reset the phone and erase my security options, wich I personally think shouldnt work like that, otherwise theres little to no protection for stolen unlocked smartphones..
Unlocked bootloader is made with phone in fastboot mode. To boot in fastboot mode no need access to the phone. Just hold volume key and power... It erase the phone also.
You need an app like cerberus. It's hidden from the application list, you can lock your phone track it with gps (and activate it), erase your data, take a picture, or listen with the mic, you can block power key, put on an alarm with lound sound and so more....
Only 5€ for 5 phones.
pystolero said:
Unlocked bootloader is made with phone in fastboot mode. To boot in fastboot mode no need access to the phone. Just hold volume key and power... It erase the phone also.
You need an app like cerberus. It's hidden from the application list, you can lock your phone track it with gps (and activate it), erase your data, take a picture, or listen with the mic, you can block power key, put on an alarm with lound sound and so more....
Only 5€ for 5 phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good app, but again for what I read in their website it only works if they connect it to the internet before doing the hard reset, which I highly doubt they`ll do (they didnt connected it in 4 days and if I were the robber I would do it eiher) I guess this leaves us with no way to make the phone unusable for these people against a hard reset.. Huawei and every company should have a way to prevent this.
You can block the phone by imei number through the service provider and also locate it.
Sent from my HUAWEI MT7-TL10 using Tapatalk
Samsung knox security
No body can reactivate the phone
But Samsung phones suck at the moment
I wish Huawei had same like security system
Because not even devolopers can break it
Sent from my HUAWEI MT7-TL10 using Tapatalk
Hi there.
I have a Sony D6603 where the screen has been broken. The phone starts up and you can feel it responding to commands, the screen backlight comes on but no text etc
My problem is this. The phone was stolen last month but a tip off allowed me to get it back. We know the culprit but he keeps demanding the phone back as he has important data on it. We said no we would give it to police. However the police say they cannot go thru the phone and that I need to get the data off to show them. This culprit is so desperate for the phone that he attempted to break in the house to steal the phone back!
Problems -
When connected to computer, it shows the phone as a drive but is blank
No way to turn USB debugging on (Is there a way of using some sort of recovery to get files off even though I cannot access the debugging screen to turn it on?
This is very important so any help will be appriciated :good:
This is hilarious
Have you tried enabling File transfer after plugging your phone in? The phone is shown bank when file transfer is not enabled.
1974darrenh said:
Hi there.
I have a Sony D6603 where the screen has been broken. The phone starts up and you can feel it responding to commands, the screen backlight comes on but no text etc
My problem is this. The phone was stolen last month but a tip off allowed me to get it back. We know the culprit but he keeps demanding the phone back as he has important data on it. We said no we would give it to police. However the police say they cannot go thru the phone and that I need to get the data off to show them. This culprit is so desperate for the phone that he attempted to break in the house to steal the phone back!
Problems -
When connected to computer, it shows the phone as a drive but is blank
No way to turn USB debugging on (Is there a way of using some sort of recovery to get files off even though I cannot access the debugging screen to turn it on?
This is very important so any help will be appriciated :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't you film yourself doing a factory reset then suggest they sue you for losing data on your phone whilst it was stolen.
I have actually had to do this with a Z3 with a dead screen. If it is encrypted however you will have no luck so don't even try as it will force a factory reset and you lose everything.
Use this to install TWRP recovery: http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3/general/recovery-root-mm-575-291-lb-t3435214
Follow the OP exactly and you will have recovery.
Boot to recovery (when rebooting press the down volume key at the first green light) and then use adb (TWRP now has this) to command TWRP to commence a data backup: http://www.pocketables.com/2014/10/using-twrps-new-adb-interface.html
(or if you can just extract the data with adb directly this will also work, but I don't see it as a command.)
As far as I know if you use flashtool and TWRP you won't need to use the screen and with TWRP's adb interface you should have more luck getting the data.
Good luck - careful when you get the data that you don't break any weird laws for looking at it. Might be a breach of his privacy blah blah. Anyway he's very stupid for using a stolen phone for sensitive data....
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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:
...
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
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?
Click to expand...
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/
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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).
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.
There are many sites selling Mix 3's some Chinese, some Global, some with locked bootloaders, and some with unlocked bootloaders, this thread is to help people "protect" the devices they have bought (or will buy).
It's through my understanding that the most "secure" way of protecting your phone & data from thief's is to have your bootloader locked, with no custom recovery, encryption on & usb debugging disabled right?
This is because with a unlocked bootloader, the thief has the ability to boot into TWRP (for example) & simply wipe your pin/password/lock off the phone completely, then just boot it up, factory reset it & sell it.
I know there is methods such as putting the phone in cold temperatures so you can retrieve the encryption keys from the RAM, but assuming the thief is just basic & what's to make some quick money off your phone...So...
What's the best way & most recommended thing to do with Xiaomi devices specifically, locked/unlocked, encrypted/not-encrypted, does it matter?, If not, why not?
Any help is appreciated! The more in-depth the better.
Even with a locked bootloader a thief can hold VolUp while booting, wipe phone and sell it. Wiping is possible in any case and thats not even the issue a stolen Phone is gone.
The issue are your data which can be stolen too when you have a unlocked bootloader. Simply boot to twrp connect usb and copy everything. But you can prevent that with encryption and enable "requires pattern to start". That way if your phone gets stolen the thief can still Install/use Twrp but he needs to enter a pattern to decrypt the storage. If he doesnt, twrp wont be able to read the partition and your data is safe. He can still wipe the Phone and sell it but you cant prevent that. I don't know if the pattern generates the encryption keys or retrieves them from somewhere but i'd assume it generates them, probably together with some device specific values, else that would be a flaw in my book. If someone could enlighten me here that'd be nice.
If your bootloader is locked he also can't access your data. Since stock recovers doesn't allow/support Usb-filetransfer. So a lockpattern is all you need there. Encryption shouldnt really matter against the normal thief.
I am going this way: Unlocked bootloader to get rid of Miui, Twrp to have a proper recovery menu, and encryption+pattern to save my data. Disable USB-Developer Options to prevent adb shenanigans.
But on the hand if you wan't to get really panariod a locked bootloader would be better since you still can read the system image from the phone from twrp, this means, and this is a easy way to do it, you could read it copy it to the pc and simply brutefroce the lockpattern. If you have the partitions you can simply try 3 patterns either it works or the phone locks itself up because you did 3 wrong. If it locks up you simply write the partitions back and try again. If you can do 3 in 30 seconds you are done in 45 days since there are only 390.000 different patterns on a 3x3 grid (which is what most people use since some Roms don't even allow for 4x4 or 5x5) but if you emulate it and can do 3 in 15 seconds you are down to 23 days. If you run it in 20 emulators you are done in 1 day. (That would be an awesome weekend project.) In emulation you could really optimize this since you can cut everything out what isn't needed for the attempt to encrypt the partition. you dont even need the screen to load, simply send the decryption module whatever the last module in the Numbers-from-touches-chain would have sent, everything that is loaded before the attempt to decrypt must be unencrypted therefore can be messed with, probably it's even universal across phones since that's a stock android thing. If it tries to write used attempts, save whatever what gets overwritten beforehand, let it write its thing, kill the process, revert changes and try again with the next set. Maybe you get it down to 3s or 4s for 3 attempts and boom you are at 6 hours to encrypt any android phone, no matter which version, with an unlocked bootloader which uses a 3x3 pattern. But your data would be really valueable to someone if they did this. You can't do that with a locked bootloader since you can't read the partitions or you could just use the 5x5 pattern, which you cant do on MIUI (i just tried and havent found where you could change it). But probably i have a giant oversight in there so this probably woudn't work
________________________________________________
On the other hand if you want to recover your phone you should make it as easy as possible to get the thief into your phone since you dont want them to run it off and wipe it. I DONT RECOMMEND THIS. But you could make a 2nd user who has no lock pattern on it. Concider your Data public at this point but while they are busy looking at your selfies you could use a app like prey to track the phone. But since Data are more important than a phone i'd never do or recommend that.
Or you could just buy a tin foil hat.
~phoeny~ said:
Even with a locked bootloader a thief can hold VolUp while booting, wipe phone and sell it. Wiping is possible in any case and thats not even the issue a stolen Phone is gone.
The issue are your data which can be stolen too when you have a unlocked bootloader. Simply boot to twrp connect usb and copy everything. But you can prevent that with encryption and enable "requires pattern to start". That way if your phone gets stolen the thief can still Install/use Twrp but he needs to enter a pattern to decrypt the storage. If he doesnt, twrp wont be able to read the partition and your data is safe. He can still wipe the Phone and sell it but you cant prevent that. I don't know if the pattern generates the encryption keys or retrieves them from somewhere but i'd assume it generates them, probably together with some device specific values, else that would be a flaw in my book. If someone could enlighten me here that'd be nice.
If your bootloader is locked he also can't access your data. Since stock recovers doesn't allow/support Usb-filetransfer. So a lockpattern is all you need there. Encryption shouldnt really matter against the normal thief.
I am going this way: Unlocked bootloader to get rid of Miui, Twrp to have a proper recovery menu, and encryption+pattern to save my data. Disable USB-Developer Options to prevent adb shenanigans.
But on the hand if you wan't to get really panariod a locked bootloader would be better since you still can read the system image from the phone from twrp, this means, and this is a easy way to do it, you could read it copy it to the pc and simply brutefroce the lockpattern. If you have the partitions you can simply try 3 patterns either it works or the phone locks itself up because you did 3 wrong. If it locks up you simply write the partitions back and try again. If you can do 3 in 30 seconds you are done in 45 days since there are only 390.000 different patterns on a 3x3 grid (which is what most people use since some Roms don't even allow for 4x4 or 5x5) but if you emulate it and can do 3 in 15 seconds you are down to 23 days. If you run it in 20 emulators you are done in 1 day. (That would be an awesome weekend project.) In emulation you could really optimize this since you can cut everything out what isn't needed for the attempt to encrypt the partition. you dont even need the screen to load, simply send the decryption module whatever the last module in the Numbers-from-touches-chain would have sent, everything that is loaded before the attempt to decrypt must be unencrypted therefore can be messed with, probably it's even universal across phones since that's a stock android thing. If it tries to write used attempts, save whatever what gets overwritten beforehand, let it write its thing, kill the process, revert changes and try again with the next set. Maybe you get it down to 3s or 4s for 3 attempts and boom you are at 6 hours to encrypt any android phone, no matter which version, with an unlocked bootloader which uses a 3x3 pattern. But your data would be really valueable to someone if they did this. You can't do that with a locked bootloader since you can't read the partitions or you could just use the 5x5 pattern, which you cant do on MIUI (i just tried and havent found where you could change it). But probably i have a giant oversight in there so this probably woudn't work
________________________________________________
On the other hand if you want to recover your phone you should make it as easy as possible to get the thief into your phone since you dont want them to run it off and wipe it. I DONT RECOMMEND THIS. But you could make a 2nd user who has no lock pattern on it. Concider your Data public at this point but while they are busy looking at your selfies you could use a app like prey to track the phone. But since Data are more important than a phone i'd never do or recommend that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really appreciate the time you took to type out this post, thankyou.