{"id":118604,"date":"2015-05-23T06:09:38","date_gmt":"2015-05-23T06:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=118604"},"modified":"2015-05-22T22:15:09","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T22:15:09","slug":"security-warning-over-android-phone-reset-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/05\/security-warning-over-android-phone-reset-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"Security warning over Android phone reset systems"},"content":{"rendered":"
Using the “factory reset” option to wipe Android phones may leave behind valuable data, warn security experts.<\/p>\n
The reset function may also fall short when used to remotely wipe a phone that has been lost or stolen, report Cambridge University researchers.<\/p>\n
For their analysis the researchers bought used Android phones to see what sort of data remained on the handsets.<\/p>\n
In some cases they retrieved key files that let them access a former owner’s Gmail account.<\/p>\n
The study of 21 phones, running Android versions 2.3 to 4.3, was carried out by Prof Ross Anderson and Laurent Simon from the University of Cambridge computer science department.<\/p>\n
The flaws they found could mean that up to 500 million Android devices might be at risk of leaving data available to attackers after being reset, the researchers warned in a blogpost.<\/p>\n
“These failings mean that staff at firms which handle lots of second-hand phones (whether lost, stolen, sold or given to charity) could launch some truly industrial-scale attacks,” they said.<\/p>\n
Complex failings<\/strong><\/p>\n All of the phones analysed left some data behind after a factory reset, they said.<\/p>\n In most of the phones tested, data generated by apps for WhatsApp and Facebook was left behind.<\/p>\n In addition, images, videos and text messages were also recoverable.<\/p>\n In 80% of the Android handsets the two researchers managed to get at an important file known as the “master token” that is used by Android to give a phone access to Google services such as Gmail.<\/p>\n