yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[G1 General] jubeh:
This actually applies to most HTC handsets, heck, maybe most phones, but this is the Dream forum and I wanted to talk about the Dream (since I own one). I actually had realized this the day I first rooted my phone, but it had been on the back of my mind until today when I ported MCR 2.6 for the Dream and saw the laughable WaveSecure app. I then thought about posting this general warning for Dream users and hopefully we can brainstorm and bring this big security hole to an end.

WaveSecure is an app that runs as a high priority process in your phone and it can do silly things such as disallow the usage of the device or access to the data on it by placing a locking screen on your phone. To enable your phone back, you enter a pin. Does that sound familiar? Ofcourse, your phone already has a lockscreen. The app also has a few backup and restore features, but nothing that hasn't been done before. Probably the only worthwhile feature is the ability to lock your phone remotely (but then the lockscreen was already active anyway).

Our rooted phones are different than stock ones, though. If you lose your phone and a knowledgeable person gets a hold of it, all they have to do is reset the phone, hold Home and Red, and voila, they have access to ALL your personal data inside your phone. I'm not only talking about the SDCard here, because accessing that data is so stupidly simple, but your phone writes enormous amounts of personal data to /data. There you can find account logins for all your installed apps, contacts info, you can find browser cache info and if you do your banking on your phone's Browser and have cookies set, well, they're all there. I've looked through several of the files in /data and most things there are dumped in human readable format, so a crook wouldn't even have to try very hard. I found my home's wifi hidden SSID AND 22 character lenght alphanumerical WAP2 encryption key in a file, and both were labeled as such :mad:.

One solution I see is easy, modify recovery to give you an option to prompt for password on start. But there's still the fact that, with the device on, we can still adb remount and then adb pull /data, so the adb binary would also have to be re-written for this purpose.

There's still yet another problem, though. Fastboot... Most of us are running a flavor of an Engineering SPL (either Death SPL or Hard SPL), and even if we block /recovery and /system, a crook can still fastboot flash boot and fastboot flash system and with a minimal booting image (no android runtime, only enough in /bin to boot a linux system) he can still get adb pull /data access.

That's where I'm at a loss, though. How do we patch SPL to prevent unauthorized usage? Are there any other security gaps I might have missed?

Comment, discuss, develop.
[G1 General] uberingram:
I'm confused. Wiping clears out the /data partition. Where are you getting all this data from post-wipe?
[G1 General] jubeh:
And that's exactly why I carry my important data safely with me. Wipe clears out the /data partition as much as "Emptying the Recycle Bin" erases deleted data in Windows.... meaning, it's still there. Although flash memory is better at deleting data, it can still be easily recovered, but then again, how are you supposed to wipe if you don't have the phone with you. I didn't see anything about remote wipe. Also, any person with two neurons firing would think right away about removing the battery and SIM before attempting anything.

Also, so let's say a wipe did clear /data entirely and you were able to remotely wipe EVERY SINGLE TIME the phone was lost or stolen (I once went a week without realizing I had lost my phone, paying that kind of bill and talking to Customer Service for hours on end is no fun), it still doesn't mean that the security gaps are not there. I still think they should be fixed, even if to foil people not interested in the data at all but on using the phone for their own. Don't you hate it when people find phones on the street, and instead of trying to return it they take it to their nearest mom & pop phone shop and have it unlocked, etc?
[G1 General] jubeh:
Oh, I see what you meant XD. Edited my post.
[G1 General] B-man007:
I've noticed this too, but the safest way to secure it is to have android encrypt the files as they are put on the data partition. Even then, that data is still unsecure. We should file an issue with the google code page for android and have them worry about it :P
[G1 General] lbcoder:
Well, this has actually been considered...

For 'droid 1.6: From the home screen, Menu --> Settings --> Security --> "Use secure credentials". It is, of course, up to the application to make use of secure credentials. This is something that you should question the developers of secure applications about.

Other times, you may note that applications like "Password safe" will password protect and encrypt their data sets.

So it is definitely up to you to ensure that the applications that you use are written with security in mind.

Now for your home wifi password... does that really matter that much? They have to actually be IN (or very near to) your home to make use of it.
[G1 General] lbcoder:
No device can be more secure than being encrypted (assuming use of strong encryption). There is most definitely NO WAY EXCEPT encryption to secure your data.

I guarantee that EVEN WITH a no-root recovery partition and a no-fastboot bootloader that enforces system image signatures, that the data on the device *CAN STILL* be read off it.

It is definitely impossible to secure these devices against being read through something like jtag. And if it is read through jtag, the only thing that can possibly protect your data is encryption.
[G1 General] neva dinova:
is it possible to do a complete wipe of the device? i know its not permanent but i figure if i quit banking online after i wipe the phone then i am no longer succeptible to that form of theft
[G1 General] JoshHart:
I bet this is making some people that sold their rooted G1's nervous right now lol
[G1 General] dan0zone:
this is the same issue blackberry users have, , even with a remote wipe ,there was concern that data can still be retrieved. That's also why the secret service is so concerned about the president having and using one daily, if its ever lost or stolen, ,,well you know, ,,

So rooted or not android is not the only platform with this issue. .
[G1 General] card13:
I would like to address this

"Don't you hate it when people find phones on the street, and instead of trying to return it they take it to their nearest mom & pop phone shop and have it unlocked, etc?"

Did you know if you called any cellphone carrier that you have and told them your phone was lost/stolen they will put the IMEI or ESN on the lost/stolen list, and then it can no longer be active on their network and from what I hear any other networks.
[G1 General] lbcoder:
Depends on where you are, here in Canada, if it gets blacklisted by Rogers, it will still work on Fido (which happens to be owned by rogers).

There is also the possibility of rewriting the IMEI. Not exactly a major difficulty.
[G1 General] bug666:
I have an idea. Since that, if someone gets hold of your phone physically, there's no way that he/she will be restricted from accessing the data, unless it's encrypted properly.

Therefore, to enhance the security, the data (or at least, /data) should be encrypted all time. I'm not familiar with Linux so I have no idea if it's doable or not, but that's a start.

That way, even if someone gets hold of your phone, and flash/hack/cheat all kinds of things, fastboot, recovery, adb... He/she will still be unable to access your data.

To do this, the bootloader (or the init script?) needs to implement a way to unlock the data.

To further increase the security, remote shutdown and wipe should be implemented as well.

Remote lock will NOT work because, while a phone is locked, it means it's running, and the data is already unencrypted at that point, and while I don't have much knowledge in hacking. I think a serious-enough person can hack the phone and get the data.

Of course, this still doesn't solve the problem that, if you, or your family member, is being held at gunpoint.

Just my 2 cents.
[G1 General] lbcoder:
1) No changes to bootloader. Bootloader is not relevant to encrypted /data. The changes would be to add in the appropriate encryption scheme to the kernel. Also, to mount the /data partition using the selected encryption method, and to prompt at the appropriate time (mount time) for password. This would be DURING BOOT.

2) The reason you don't want to do this is that d/encryption eats CPU and memory.
[G1 General] bug666:
So that's the init scripts?

And battery, may I add?

To what extent is the question, I don't think it's a must-have feature for everybody, but think some may be willing to put up with the trade off...?
[G1 General] lbcoder:
Mainly kernel, but yes, some adjustment would have to be made to the init.

Certainly. Anything that eats CPU eats batter.

A better implementation would be to encrypt *some* data, i.e. application home directories, but specifically NOT the ~/lib directory. Because really, do you CARE if your APK's or dalvik cache are encrypted or not? This would minimize the performance impact (to negligible) while providing the desired data security.

Also, encryption on a per-application basis would allow this to be done withOUT having to pause bootup to ask for a password... it could be done more intelligently on first-access-attempt.
[G1 General] bug666:
Anybody tried using Walkie Vault (http://www.walkie-vault.com/)...? Can it encrypt the data/home folder...?

A system-wide usable encryption system that different apps may make use of is a good idea, but is it on Android's agenda yet...?
[G1 General] jashsu:
It hasn't quite entered the collective consciousness that the connected smartphone, as configured today and if logged into online services, is the ultimate personal identity device. Unlike other personal effects we keep on us at all times (id cards, keys), a Google login gives a thief potentially a treasure trove of data to exploit without requiring any further identification to the phone other than the lock screen (assuming the user has set one). Once it becomes a big enough issue we may see solutions such as:

- Built in biometric identification (fingerprint scan, iris scan) replaces lock screen.

- OS framework requires apps storing sensitive user data to store into encrypted databases, authenticated from above biometric keys.

- Carriers, digital identity providers (e.g. Google, MSN) providing remote wipe as free standard services and accessible over the phone, not just a web page.
[G1 General] H@OBouget:
No computer is 100% secure.

Biometrics are often easy to fool.

3 of the fingerprint scanners I have encountered were easily by-passed with a pencil, and a rubber glove. Not to say they are all like that, but some are super simple to get around. Myth busters bypassed one with a photo copier and a sharpie. My buddy bought one super cheap, and put it on his wife's computer to make her feel safer. We bypassed it by breathing on it. (it was super cheap)

The current "Lock" on the G1 is like that super cheap biometric scanner. Your fingers leave behind oils. Oils are what leave the marks on the screen. Breathe hot air on the screen and you can see the pattern of the lock sequence. Some lock.

Note to self: remember to wipe off screen everytime you unlock phone.

I think that the best way around this is to remove all the data from the phone in the first place. For several years now I have been telling my friends that google's ultimate goal will be server side data storage that you log into to use.

The world of cell phones is headed this direction as well.

Google voice, Google Chrome, Google Docs, Cloud....all operate under the idea that you connect to the data, manipulate it, save it, then (ideally) your device forgets it was there.

If you want to stop cell phone theft, you have to hard code the phone to accept only one set of data, and any attempt to change that data in a way not prescribed by the phone will result in the destruction of the data and the usability of the phone. Not real cost effective for a device that lasts on the average of 18 months.

Another option is to make a daily use phone. Only good for 24 hours. Then you have to get a new one. Make them cheap, and disposable.

Common users would freak out over having to back up the data all the time, or you would need a uplink storage location like...oh say Google voice, Google Chrome, Google Docs, Cloud.

The average consumer has no clue what that thing in their hand is capable of doing, storing, or tracking. The techno geek is the problem and much like ROM's, what stops a Techno geek today, won't necessarily stop him tomorrow.

In the mean time, wave secure at least offers you the satisfaction of telling you when someone has put a different sim in your phone.

And it will scare the crap out of someone when they pull out the sim card. :D it is very loud!

But I agree the android system needs a better lock.
[G1 General] Blissfull:
Maybe a mod could be prepared to separate /data into a cryptfs system, only trouble is that to make it secure a start/unlock password would need to be entered.
[G1 General] Proxin:
Some developers have already begun using encryption. Have you tried looking into OI Safe's data files?

When I took a look into them, I only found encrypted data. Nothing sitting out in the open.
[G1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mrnv45:
i know i seen a way to access my sd card via usb while im stucc in recovery without a rom..

i wanna reformat my card but i dont wanna loose my rom or anything..

last time i did that i lost my rom and all my apps were on there too so nothing loaded..

any help.. thanks!
[G1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] david1171:
you can adb push the rom, or you can adb shell ums_enable to mount sdcard and adb shell ums_disable to unmount the sdcard.
[G1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mrnv45:
thanks buddy.. ill try here in a sec..and get bacc wit you !!

thanks!
[G1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] supremeteam256:
Yay for david.
[G1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] david1171:
+1 FTW ;)
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] carhigh:
It seems the magnet on our old kaiser cases make the tilt 2 screen turn on. We figured it out with a little help from the att sales guy cause the wife was getting pissed that every time she put the phone in the case, the screen turned on.

Cant seem to find any info about it, why it does this. Forget the sales people at the store. They dont know jack

I am also lookng for something that tells what the indicator lights should do. We get a solid left light for charge and a flashing left light for unread anything.

Though there should be a blue flash when blue tooth is enabled,

Judging by the kaiser,
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] slothbb:
Effects of Magnet on TP2

Yes I have Telstra model TP2 and i can confirm this behaviour as well with a case with magnetic clasp.Also I find that passing it by the magnet will also make TP2 go from portrait mode to landscape .I t can be very annoying because even locking TP2 makes no difference
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] NearDenver:
It due to the keyboard sensor. The phone thinks you are sliding out the keyboard.

There is a patch to disable that "feature" (First thing i do when i install a new ROM)
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] Nagrom Nniuq:
Is it that or the stylus sensor?
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] maartenschenk:
Here's video...

To see this happening, here's a little video of the magnetic effect

http://www.blogologie.be/2009/06/htc-touch-pro-2-en-magnetisme.html
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] maartenschenk:
Do you have a link for this patch?
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] carhigh:
yes, please link us to the patch.
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] eknutson:
here's the post I used (key info below, not much else in the actual post): http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=1093353&postcount=37

reg edit to disable the ''Slide Wake Up''

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware\DeviceMap\Keybd] Create new dword "SlideWakeup" with value of 0 and soft reset.

To revert, delete the key or set it's data to 1
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] carhigh:
Hmmm, if thats the only way to stop the magnet problem, im not sure i am willing to do that. I like the slide to wake up thing.
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] eknutson:
well, the other way is a non-magnetic case ;)
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] slothbb:
I just tried the above reg edit on my TP2 and it did indeed work as described on my unit.Thanks a lot eknutson
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] godefroi:
Just as an FYI, many if not all HTC devices with slide-out keyboards are like that. My Apache did it, my Kaiser did it, my TP2 does it.
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] redpoint73:
It appears that the OEM case has a magnetic clasp (I just ordered an AT&T Tilt 2, which does not come with a case). Does the magnetic clasp on the OEM case cause the phone to turn on?
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] carhigh:
I would think a magnet is a magnet. OEM with magnets should see the same result.

I turned on my keyboard sound and ran the magnet over the tiny keypad and i heard the keyboard slide sound while the screen turned on.
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] petasis:
I cannot reproduce it in my European pro 2. Am I doing something wrong, or is the case magnet too weak?

(I have lost the original case, and I have an EASECASE with 2 magnets now...)
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] ButtonBoy:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware\DeviceMap\Keybd] Create new dword "SlideWakeup" with value of 0 and soft reset.
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] rvt1000:
Thanks for this reg edit....worked perfectly for me. I am a bit bummed I lost the wake to slide feature but the magnetic clasp is more important to me then a velcro case thus I'm willing to lose the wake up feature....thanks.

:)
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] RojasTKD:
I tried this on my Tilt 2 and my magnetic case ans could not reproduce the issue. Maybe my magnets are too weak. Seem it may not be an issue for everyone.
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] eknutson:
True, the magnet issue may not be an issue for everyone - but it also applies if you open the keyboard just a tad while it's locked.

This was problematic for me when the phone was set to wake when the keyboard opens - it'll bypass the lock application (at least it did for me w/ my setup). Adding the reg value prevented me from accidentally unlocking the device when I'm trying to grab it out of the case - which while fumbling around you may tap the wrong part of the screen and can ignor an incoming call :rolleyes:
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] carhigh:
Well, i have thought about this a little more. I am thinking, WHEN the heck do i grab my phone (while its sleeping) and pop the keyboard out to wake it up .... NEVER

I never slide the keyboard out unless there is a reason. ONLY when i am using the programs or get a notifacation. When i get a notifacation, the screen turns on, so ...

I guess i will be turning off the slide to wake after all, since i come to realize it is a useless feature to me anyways.
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] carhigh:
Thanks for the reg edit to stop the slide to wake. Now i have another issue.

I have been using TurnOffTheLight.CAB which now i figured out only turns the screen light off and doesnt put the phone to sleep. So slide to wake still happens if i turn the screen off using TurnOffTheLight.CAB, but slide to wake is in fact disabled if i use the power button to put the phone to sleep. Is there anything i can use like TurnOffTheLight.CAB that actualy put the phone to sleep as though i hit the power button to sleep?
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] RojasTKD:
Tried this and my Tilt 2 wont wake up until I I just about reach the second row of keys. So at lest in my case no worries about accidentally bumping the keyboard. I does however bypass the lock function once I slide it out that far, but that not really a concern for me.

In my case it seems to be a non-issue, but I'm running the stock AT&T ROM for now. Lets see if that changes when I get around to flashing.
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] MikesDroid:
Thanks for this, I made the registry changes and my magnetic phone case stopped turning on my phone! It was actually unlocking the phone as well. Real annoying because I really like this magnetic case that I have. It's a PDair one that I used with my Kaiser.

I'm wondering if the magnet in my case will have any negative effect on the phone itself? Will it mess with the accelerometer at all?
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] hoot1975:
I have that problem using my hermes case but not the Rhodium case. The reason for this seems to be because the rhodium case magnet is in the middle and the magnetic sensor is to one end of the phone, so the two magnets in the older case means one of them is over the sensor.

One problem I had, was that my phone would bypass the lock feature as mentioned before, but it doesn't do that if you have a password enabled, it goes to the password entry screen so you do not have to worry about accidental dialing or program launching. (Unless you are unlucky enough to enter the pass word by accident)
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] boss1234:
Thanks for the reg edit, it was driving me insane, and killing my battery with the coming on all the time. Not to mention, calling people, changing my time on the clock, on it's own... All because the magnets kept waking it up in my case. I even went to ATT and bought a velcro case to resolve the issue, almost 40 bucks wasted. It has a magnet in it somewhere also, and kept waking it up more than my old original Tilt case. This did the trick though, no more issue's. THANKS!
[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General] eknutson:
You're very welcome, glad my find helped you too! I know it was driving me nuts as well :)

~Eric
[G1 Android Development] luckaddict:
if anyone would like free webspace to store files for their projects i can give free FTP account and sql database. Just PM me

sorry if this is the wrong forum for this.

i have 70 gigs and up to 20 sql accounts
[G1 Android Development] fenixnr:
70 gigs wont last you long with any developers, just an FYI
[Touch Pro2 CDMA] tone-def:
Anybody have a problem downloading an MMS over Verizon. It seems when I get a message with MMS it says downloading but stays at 0% in the notifications area then fails. I dont have a problem with emails or SMS. Im looking for a fix and I dont see anything on this other than the Verizon forums where people are having the same problem.
[Touch Pro2 CDMA] notanerd1411:
I was having the same problem. Call Verizon and have them reset all the options on your account.For some reason once they reset it all mine worked fine.... However i do have an issue still that if i have Wifi connected it will not send or receive MMS messages.
[Touch Pro2 CDMA] thelbz:
I also cannot download a mms with wifi connected. Not sure why but its no big deal to disable wifi when i recieve a mms.
[Touch Pro2 CDMA] tone-def:
I backed up all my contacts and did a hard reset. After that it worked. Thanks anyway guys.
[Touch Pro2 CDMA] notanerd1411:
hard reset worked for me for about a week.. but i refuse to do a hard reset every week in order to get MMS. so in a week or so when it stops working again. call verizon and have them reset your service options.
[Touch Pro2 CDMA] tone-def:
Thanks for the heads up. I will definitely give em a call if it starts to fail again.
[JAMin, XDA Neo, S200 General] sucka:
Hey all, i have a question, how can i dump a rom directly from the phone to the pc, this thing gave me some problems. Thanks ! p.s. i need this to be able to share too many tweaks for prophet too. :)