Galaxy S III bug bypasses lockscreen, allowing access to all personal data

[ChazUK]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/6/4071766/galaxy-s-iii-bug-bypasses-lockscreen

Oh Samsung.

One of the perils of a non-stock Nexus device is waiting for the manufacturer to fix and the carrier to authorise any fixes to issues like this.

I'm not sure how easy or hard this is to pull off but I hope Samsung get on this quickly and aren't hampered by carrier BS.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

I tried to do this on my GS3. The closest I got was seeing my home screen for a split second and it would go right back to the home screen. That alone was hard to achieve. Home screen disappears too fast for me to press any icons. I'm on a 4.1.1 custom touchwiz rom. By looking at the comments, it's just as hard to do on stock, if actually possible.

 

[grkm3]

I tried this 5 times and no luck but my gs3 updated to stock ota 4.1.2 a few days ago on Verizon,they might of patched it but I could not get it to work.

 

[MuddyPaws1]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see any point to locking a phone. I don't even use a lock screen.

 

[cynics]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see any point to locking a phone. I don't even use a lock screen.

I do on my iPhone (which has a way to defeat the lock screen unless it was patched in 6.1.1/2). If someone were to steal it they'd have access to all my private information. Plus it would be much easier for them to use it.

I guess it depends on what's on your phone, where you live and visit and your lifestyle. For me its a no brainer, my phone locks after 5 minutes of inactivity.

 

[MuddyPaws1]

I do on my iPhone (which has a way to defeat the lock screen unless it was patched in 6.1.1/2). If someone were to steal it they'd have access to all my private information. Plus it would be much easier for them to use it.

I guess it depends on what's on your phone, where you live and visit and your lifestyle. For me its a no brainer, my phone locks after 5 minutes of inactivity.

I have never had a phone stolen from out of my hand or out of my pocket. But I guess if you live somewhere where people knock you down and take things out of your pocket then ok.

 

[sentinelsx]

I have never had a phone stolen from out of my hand or out of my pocket. But I guess if you live somewhere where people knock you down and take things out of your pocket then ok.

All is well until it actually happens.

People in downtown's posh areas aren't immune to phone thefts either.

 

[adnbek]

I have never had a phone stolen from out of my hand or out of my pocket. But I guess if you live somewhere where people knock you down and take things out of your pocket then ok.

I suppose you don't wear a seatbelt since you've never been in a car accident?

 

[maflynn]

[MOD NOTE]
Stay on topic and lets not drag in material that could be inflammatory. Discuss the bug and lets be respectful to the OP and not derail the thread.

 

[matttye]

That is the single biggest problem with the Android upgrade model, the fact that it has to go through so many stages before the update is available

Hope it's fixed soon and hopefully not present in the S4 when that comes out!

 

[MuddyPaws1]

I suppose you don't wear a seatbelt since you've never been in a car accident?

That's silly. Not wearing a seatbelt is illegal.

That is the single biggest problem with the Android upgrade model, the fact that it has to go through so many stages before the update is available

Hope it's fixed soon and hopefully not present in the S4 when that comes out!

The only fix is to remove the lockscreen and take it out of the OS. Anyone that thinks their data is safe if the phone is stolen just because they used a stock lock screen is foolish.

 

[kevinof]

Doubt its going to be a problem on the S4. It's not even a problem on my S3 running 4.1.2.

Hope it's fixed soon and hopefully not present in the S4 when that comes out!

 

[matttye]

Galaxy S III bug bypasses lockscreen, allowing access to all personal data

That's silly. Not wearing a seatbelt is illegal.



The only fix is to remove the lockscreen and take it out of the OS. Anyone that thinks their data is safe if the phone is stolen just because they used a stock lock screen is foolish.

It's safe from your average opportunistic mugger, but not if that mugger turns out to be a security expert. Most people wouldn't have a clue how to bypass a lock screen or steal data off a locked phone.

I don't think it's supposed to turn your phone into Fort Knox, just keep out most people.

 

[0dev]

I hope everyone who cares about security actually has encryption enabled, otherwise your phone is as good as unprotected. Password screens on their own are utterly meaningless, on both Android and iOS you can easily bypass them with a bit of simple hacking. It's the encryption that actually protects your data.