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I'm about to move on my Samsung Galaxy Tab3 10.1. Is there a simple way to remove all of my personal / sensetive information as i'm not very computer savvy. Thank for any help.
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Conventional wisdom is that it is not safe to simply reset to Factory Settings.
I would at least:
1. Turn on Encryption on the device (with a reasonably complex key)
2. Only after doing this do a Factory Data Reset
(this should remove the encryption option, and also lose the key, such that any data left on the device - even if only recoverable via low-level methods - being now encrypted should be virtually unrecoverable (except, perhaps, by certain Government agencies;-) ).
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The other option of course is to drop it into a deep concrete foundation mid pour.
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> The other option of course is to drop it into a deep concrete foundation mid
> pour.
Did you know Jimmy Hoffa by any chance MD?
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Just a tad out of my league Kev :-0)
I struggle with worrying about erasing phones etc. whether successfully or otherwise to re-coup the square root of f/all in the second hand market. That's why I suppose my office shelves are burdened with all manner of phones, hard drives and a new scanner. Are scanners still viable? If so someone give me the postage and have it please..............please....
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>> The other option of course is to drop it into a deep concrete foundation mid
>> pour.
>>
I think this interpretation of "moving on" might be different to that the OP was using. ;-)
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You are correct in saying you need to turn on encryption before factory resetting. So it will take a bit of time to encrypt the device.
A simple factory reset would allow someone with knowledge of such things to recover information.
From Android Lollypop 5.0, encryption is on by default.
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>> except, perhaps, by certain Government agencies;-) ).
Not yet, they can't. Unless, of course, they beat the encryption key out of you with a rusty spanner.
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>>A simple factory reset would allow someone with knowledge of such things to recover information.
What on earth do you have on your phone that you might worry about being found by somebody else?
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>>>>
>> What on earth do you have on your phone that you might worry about being
>> found by somebody else?
>>
Don't tell him, Maltrap.
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>What on earth do you have on your phone that you might worry about being found by somebody else?
Some folks have company confidential data on their phones. My employer demands that it is encrypted in case I lose it or someone steals the SD card.
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>How is the new company?
It feels a bit weird. I think they're all on drugs.
Everyone is smiling, enthusiastic and can't do enough to help. I think they may be putting something in the water because it seems to be contagious. It's like a new start-up. Everyone from the old business is getting to know each other better and pulling together. There's no penny-pinching and petty bureaucracy. If something needs doing - take responsibility and do it.
As Ronald would say.. "I'm loving it!"
Absolutely no way would I go back.
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>> >How is the new company?
>>
>> It feels a bit weird. I think they're all on drugs.
>>
>> Everyone is smiling, enthusiastic and can't do enough to help. I think they may be
There's no penny-pinching and petty bureaucracy. If something needs doing - take responsibility and
>> do it.
Ooooopppps, sounds like you left the management behind, you best go back and pick them up
>> As Ronald would say.. "I'm loving it!"
>>
>> Absolutely no way would I go back.
Its not till you step outside that you realise what a god awful outfit to work for they have become
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>Not yet, they can't. Unless, of course, they beat the encryption key out of you with a rusty spanner.
Oh yes they can. IF, they deem the effort and CPU cycles for a brute force crack worthwhile.
And that assumes that your device doesn't already have in-built vulnerabilities.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA_BSAFE
blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2013/12/how-does-nsa-break-ssl.html
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>> >Not yet, they can't. Unless, of course, they beat the encryption key out of you
>> with a rusty spanner.
>>
>> Oh yes they can. IF, they deem the effort and CPU cycles for a brute
>> force crack worthwhile.
>>
>> And that assumes that your device doesn't already have in-built vulnerabilities.
>>
>> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA_BSAFE
>> blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2013/12/how-does-nsa-break-ssl.html
>>
Ahh... apologies. I see Google phoned in the encryption facilities in Android instead of doing it properly.
I still think they'd attempt to beat the password out of you first, though.
And provided you use a proper encryption system (ie, 256 bit AES or similar) it's still entirely secure. From an energy point of view you'd need a black hole to power the computers and about a million times of the current age of the universe to do the calculation.
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>Ahh... apologies. I see Google phoned in the encryption facilities in Android instead of doing it properly.
Google didn't do anything to the encryption facilities in Android FF. Like everyone else they used algorithms and hardware which was supposedly proven, secure and industry standard. If you mess with those algorithms you have more chance of breaking them than improving them.
>I still think they'd attempt to beat the password out of you first, though.
Not in the UK. We are much more civilized and threaten you with a few years in an all-inclusive room with Bubba.
>And provided you use a proper encryption system (ie, 256 bit AES or similar) it's still entirely secure. From an
>energy point of view you'd need a black hole to power the computers and about a million times of the current age
>of the universe to do the calculation.
AES-256 is theoretically secure which is why the NSA and GCHQ have turned their efforts to compromising how it is implemented, even to the extent of paying device and chip manufacturers to co-operate. The compute power needed to break the encryption is reduced by orders of magnitude if you can reduce the number of keys being generated to a subset of those theoretically possible.
I don't think that GCHQ are particularly interested in my employer's unannounced product plans though so I reckon Bubba is safe.
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Surely it depends on what Maltrap is planning on doing with his Tablet? If he is looking to sell it on, I don't think the people who would spend the going rate for one are the type that are going to try and steal any info from it that a factory reset wont remove.
In other words these people aren't going to buy up £100 tablets at a time in the hope that it will contain information. If they are that good, they will be obtaining information in other, much cheaper, ways.
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You're right. But why take the risk? Encrypt and then factory reset.
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Perhaps i should come clean. I bought the tablet from Tesco for £180, a week later saw the same tablet at Argos for £150. Tesco llet me return it for a full refund. I told the guy there & he even did the factory re-set for me.Incidentally Argos told me that once i'd broken the seals on the box it could not be returned
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There is only one truly effective tool for permanently removing data - its called a hammer.
Other than that, you just need to think about how hard someone is going to try to get your information, and what they could do with it if they did get it.
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>> Other than that, you just need to think about how hard someone is going to
>> try to get your information, and what they could do with it if they did
>> get it.
Apart from my bank passwords, which Santander won't let the computer retain there's not much I'd be worried about.
How much effort would a crook use to 'crack' my postings here or to learn what days I'm at CAB?
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Prezackly.
Although the Daily Mail would pay tons to be able to report to the sheep that someone had managed to garner your inside leg measurement.
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Slightly OT - I once worked with a disposals company that had a machines like this www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd_O7-rqcHc but it apparently didn't meet American Dept of Defense standards as the shreds were over a certain size.
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Removing confidential info' - Zero
