You thought to erase all the personal data from your Android smartphone with a "Hard reset"? Researchers have shown that even after this operation, the data is still there.
 |
| Android smartphone |
Perhaps if you ever sold or give your Android smartphone. In these cases, the procedure is to erase personal data by making a factory reset. All your information is supposed to be erased. Two Cambridge researchers have shown that much of the data is still present on the smartphone.
Sensitive data
They used various database recovery tools to scan portions of the storage space designated as empty. They were able to recover photos, passwords, chat portions, etc. This can pose serious problems if these sensitive data falling into the wrong hands.
Researchers say this persistence comes from the flash memory management that limits the number of times the storage blocks can be overwritten. A "hard reset" can thus designate deleted data without having crushed to extend the life span of the storage disk.
The solution
Do not panic. There is a simple way to solve this security problem on Android smartphones. The easiest way is to encrypt your data before performing a factory reset.
On the Android 3.0, you simply go to the settings of the smartphone and then the Security tab and then select the Encrypt option. This has not erased the data but if they are still present on the smartphone after a "reset", they are encrypted and therefore unreadable logically.
The researchers say it is better to choose a complicated password to deter hackers who wish to go further and use a decryption system.
Unlike Android smartphones, the iPhone does not suffer from this weakness. Since 2009 and the arrival of iOS 3.0, iPhone storage spaces are encrypted. The Apple smartphone even has a dedicated coprocessor these security measures.
Cambridge researchers reported working with Google to address security vulnerabilities and are satisfied with the progress made on Android 5.0.
