Tag Archives: avast! Anti-Theft

Avast finds personal data on phones sold at pawn shops

Many people sell their used smartphones but fail to ensure their personal data is wiped away.

A year and half ago, Avast mobile security researchers bought 20 used phones from online consumer-to-consumer sites, like eBay and Amazon, in the USA. Using easily available recovery software, they were able to access more than 40,000 personal photos, emails, and text messages.

Since then, smartphone technology has progressed and numerous educational articles have been published to inform people about cleaning their phones before selling, so we wanted to see what would happen if we did a similar experiment now. This time, our researchers bought phones from pawn shops: Five devices each in New York, Paris, Barcelona, and Berlin — and again, used widely available free recovery software to detect the data found on the devices.

infograph_used_smartphone_pk_v3

Install Avast Anti-Theft from the Google Play Store for free

Because all the phones in this experiment came from pawn shops, Avast researchers were able to consult with the shop owners prior to purchasing the phones. Each shop owner assured them that the phones had been factory reset and that all data from previous owners was wiped clean. Avast found otherwise. Twelve of the supposedly clean phones were not clean at all.

Avast retrieved more than 2,000 personal photos, emails, text messages, invoices, and one adult video from the phones that the prior owner assumed was deleted. On two of the phones, the previous owners had forgotten to log out of their Gmail accounts, risking having the new owners read or send emails in their name.

Avast researchers were able to recover the following files from the 20 phones:

  • More than 1,200 photos
  • More than 200 photos with adult content
  • 149 photos of children
  • More than 300 emails and text messages
  • More than 260 Google searches, including 170 searches for adult content
  • Two previous owners’ identities
  • Three invoices
  • One working contract
  • One adult video

Why did these phones still have data on them?

Of the phones that were factory reset, 50 percent still contained personal data because the previous owner was running an outdated version of Android that had an improperly functioning factory reset feature.  Some of the previous owners only deleted their files without doing a factory reset. However, this doesn’t mean that the files were removed completely – only the reference to the file was deleted. Other phone owners simply forgot to delete their data or do a factory reset. The possibility that some of these phones were lost and not wiped clean of data before they arrived at the pawn shop also exists.

Scenarios such as these highlight both the responsibility of shop owners to properly wipe and reset phones prior to sale, and also the need for phone owners to utilize anti-theft software in the chance their phone is lost or stolen, in order to remotely wipe the data.

“New Android phones are pretty safe when it comes to the factory reset, but used phones with older Android versions that have a less thorough reset feature are still being sold,” said Gagan Singh, president of mobile at Avast Software.

How to make sure you don’t sell your identity along with your old phone

If you are selling a phone with an older version of Android (version 4.3 is the last one where factory reset did not work properly for some devices), then you cannot depend on the factory reset to ensure your personal data is wiped clean. Deleting files from your Android phone before selling it or giving it away is also not enough. You need to overwrite your files, making them irretrievable. To do so, install Avast Anti-Theft from the Google Play Store for free.

Your mobile device must be connected to your Avast account at https://my.avast.com. Linking your device to your Avast account also allows you to remotely wipe your phone in case it’s stolen or lost.

The final step is to wipe the phone clean, which will delete and overwrite all of your personal data.

Once the app is installed, turn on the WIPE command within the app.

  • Choose WIPE in the Send command column and click Send.
  • Confirm if you really want to delete all your data from the mobile phone.
  • To delete click Send, otherwise click Cancel. Your mobile will be rebooted.
  • The WIPE command will erase all data on your mobile and initiate a factory reset.

Avast at Mobile World Congress

Avast Mobile Security is at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in Hall 8.1 (App Planet), Booth H65 this week, until February 25. Please stop by if you are around.

Avast finds personal data on phones sold at pawn shops

Many people sell their used smartphones but fail to ensure their personal data is wiped away.

A year and half ago, Avast mobile security researchers bought 20 used phones from online consumer-to-consumer sites, like eBay and Amazon, in the USA. Using easily available recovery software, they were able to access more than 40,000 personal photos, emails, and text messages.

Since then, smartphone technology has progressed and numerous educational articles have been published to inform people about cleaning their phones before selling, so we wanted to see what would happen if we did a similar experiment now. This time, our researchers bought phones from pawn shops: Five devices each in New York, Paris, Barcelona, and Berlin — and again, used widely available free recovery software to detect the data found on the devices.

infograph_used_smartphone_pk_v3 Install Avast Anti-Theft from the Google Play Store for free

Protect your phone while traveling for the holidays

Traveling can be stressful, but even more so during the holiday season. AAA projects that the number of year-end holiday travelers in the U.S. will top 100 million for the first time on record. Nearly one in three Americans will travel this holiday season and more than 100.5 million are expected to travel than 50 miles or more from home.

Avast mobile apps help protect your smartphone when you are traveling

Avast mobile apps help protect your smartphone when you are traveling

The one thing you really want to make sure you protect while you travel is your smartphone. Not only may you have your boarding pass on your smartphone, but more importantly, the hardware is expensive and it most likely contains a plethora of personal data.

There are two main ways your phone could be compromised while traveling, especially during the holidays: physical device loss and network threats.

Have an anti-theft app installed

Airports and train stations will be bustling with people, you may have to dash to catch a flight or make a pit stop during a long car ride. In all of these situations, your phone is at risk –physical risk. Pickpockets prefer to work in high density areas, and it’s easy to lose things like your phone when you’re in a rush.

If you lose your phone, Avast Anti-Theft can help protect your data and help you find your phone.

With Anti-Theft, you can accomplish the following:

  • Remotely locate your phone on a map via GPS, Wi-Fi or mobile network
  • Remotely lock your phone
  • Be notified about a SIM card change — the new number and GPS location will be sent to your pre-selected friend
  • Remotely activate an alarm
  • Remotely wipe your phone
  • Remotely lock your phone’s settings app

Use a VPN when connecting to public Wi-Fi

Besides physical loss, your smartphone can be compromised when using public Wi-Fi. Using software that is readily available on the Internet, anyone can snoop on Wi-Fi traffic if they are connected to the same network as you are. This means they can see the websites you visit and, in some cases, even capture login information, which is why it is vital to use a VPN. VPN stands for virtual private network and serves as a private tunnel that encrypts your data while connected to open Wi-Fi and, thus, protects your data from being intercepted and read.

Avast SecureLine VPN is a great, affordable, one-click VPN. In addition to protecting your data, you can also choose which of the many Avast servers located around the world that you want to connect through. This allows you to circumvent geo-restrictions, so you can view content from your home country while traveling abroad.

Happy holidays and safe travels from Avast!


Follow Avast on FacebookTwitterYouTube, and Google+ where we keep you updated on cybersecurity news every day.

“Good Samaritans” return lost phones from Avast experiment

Twenty Android mobile phones were intentionally lost in The Lost Phones social experiment that Avast security analysts ran for 5 months.

The story is about how Avast Anti-Theft was able to track the phones and follow the journey that some of them took after being found. But four of those phones were returned to Avast because of good Samaritans who didn’t feel it was right to keep them.

Quiana W. returned a lost phone to Avast

Quiana W. returned a lost phone to Avast

We spoke to two of them; Quiana W., who found a phone on a park bench in Harlem, New York City and to Michael D. who found one in a public restroom in San Francisco. We asked what they thought when they first spotted the phones.

Quiana: I wanted to check it to see if it was on and see if I would be able to contact someone to return their phone. I know what it feels like to lose things, wallet or a phone, so I was just trying to pay it forward. It doesn’t necessarily have to happen back to me in this way, but it was just something that kind of took my heart.

Michael: My initial reaction was to leave the phone where it was. It seemed a little suspicious – how could someone not hear the phone drop onto the floor? I also thought that someone might mistake me for a thief if I walked out with the phone. But then, partially out of boredom and partially out of honesty, I decided to play detective and find the phone’s owner.

Lost_Phones

Michael D. found a lost phone in a public restroom

Why is your phone so important?

Quiana: Everything revolves around technology. The most valuable piece of information on my phone is probably my contacts, because I try not to keep too much private stuff, or stuff that is sensitive, but I guess my contacts or things I may discuss with people via text messages are most important to me.

Michael: My own phone is important to me because it keeps me in contact with family and friends. The most valuable data on my phone is the contact list. Then the old messages saved to memory.

Why did you return the phone?

Quiana: I lost my phone a couple of months ago and I didn’t even know I lost it. I was in a car and my cousin kept asking me why I was calling her? So, I’m like, Wait a minute, I don’t have my phone! Where is my phone?

I dropped my phone in a parking lot of the grocery store that we were just at, so I went back to get it. So, I kinda would feel lost (without my phone), I would feel definitely lost.

Michael: I returned the phone because I don’t take things that aren’t mine.

What would you fear about losing your phone?

Quiana: The amount of money I would have to pay to get it back.

Michael also thought about what would happen if he lost his own phone. If that happened, he would be more concerned about losing the device itself rather than the data on his device.

Protect your data and the device it’s on

Even though four honest people returned a lost phone to Avast, 15 stolen phones are still out there. We were able to track 11 phones immediately because they stayed online for more than 24 hours after losing them, we were able to track 7 phones for several months, and 4 phones are still online and being used.

“More than 3 million phones are lost each year,” said Gagan Singh, president of mobile at Avast. “Fortunately with Avast Anti-Theft, users have the means to track and recover a lost phone – or remotely wipe the data on it if it’s not recoverable.

You have a better chance of getting your phone back if you install  Avast Anti-Theft. Get it for free from the Google Play Store.


Follow Avast on FacebookTwitterYouTube, and Google+ where we keep you updated on cybersecurity news every day.

 

How the Avast ‘Lost Phone’ experiment worked

We trust our free app Avast Anti-Theft to track down lost phones, but we wanted to put it to the test in a real-world situation. So five months ago, we bought 20 Android smartphones and installed three security apps on all the phones: Our free Avast Anti-Theft app, Lookout Mobile Security, and Clean Master. Each phone was marked with contact information on where to return the device if found. After all was prepared, Avast security analysts traveled to New York City and San Francisco to randomly “lose” them in public places.

Here’s a video that shows what happened.

Over the months, the analysts used the Avast Anti-Theft app to track the lost devices and observed the following:

  • 15 phones were wiped clean using the factory reset feature
  • 11 phones stayed online for more than 24 hours after losing them
  • 7 phones we were able to track for several months
  • 4 phones were returned
  • 4 phones are currently online and used
  • 2 phones ended up abroad
  • 1 phone was never factory data reset

The majority of lost devices were wiped clean using the factory reset feature, but only the Avast Anti-Theft app survived the factory reset.

You can track your missing mobile phones and tablets with Avast Anti-Theft. Get it for free from the Google Play Store.


Follow Avast on FacebookTwitterYouTube, and Google+ where we keep you updated on cybersecurity news every day.