The recent debate in the US between law enforcement and tech giants over smartphone encryption has once again brought this issue into the spotlight. No one will argue that protecting your personal data is an important topic, so we are pleased to tell you what Android offers necessary tools to encrypt your smartphone right out of the box. If you're interested and want to know where to start, this guide will tell you how to encrypt your Android smartphone or tablet.
Device encryption and what does it do?
Before you encrypt your device, it makes sense to understand what encryption is and what the pros and cons of this solution are.
Device encryption is not universal solution to protect all your data or information from prying eyes, especially when sent over the Internet. Instead, device encryption converts all data stored on the phone into a form that can only be read by the correct credentials. This solution provides better security than a password lock because data can be obtained without going through the lock screen using recovery programs, bootloaders or Android Debug Bridge.
Encrypted music, photos, apps, and credentials cannot be read without first decrypting the information, which requires a unique key. Thus, part of the procedure happens behind the scenes, where the user's password is converted into a key, which is stored in the "Trusted Environment" to remain inaccessible to third-party users in the event of a software attack. This key will be required to encrypt and decrypt files.
Android makes encryption simple from a user's perspective, as you enter your passcode whenever you unlock your device, making your files accessible. This means that if your phone falls into the wrong hands, no one else will be able to figure out the data on your phone without knowing the password.
And before you dive headfirst into encryption, there are a few things you should consider. First, opening encrypted files requires additional processing power, so encryption will impact your phone's performance. Memory read speeds may become significantly slower on older devices, but the performance hit for the vast majority of regular tasks remains very small, if noticeable at all.
Secondly, only some smartphones will offer the option to remove encryption from your smartphone. Encryption is a one-way solution for most smartphones and tablets. If your phone does not offer the ability to decrypt your phone data, the only option to perform a full rollback is to return to factory settings, which will erase all of your personal data. Check this point in advance.
Having understood the situation, let's see how to enable encryption.
Encrypting my device
Device encryption works the same on all Android devices, although the methods used to implement it may change slightly over time. Some devices come with active encryption out of the box, such as the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, and if your device is not encrypted, do so with using Android very simple.
Android 5.0 or higher...
For Android smartphones and tablets under Android control 5.0 or later, you can go to the Security menu under Settings. The path here may vary slightly depending on your OEM, but with stock Android you'll find encryption under Settings > Personal > Security.
Here you should see an option to Encrypt Phone or Encrypt Tablet. You'll be prompted to plug your device into a charger while encryption is happening to make sure your phone doesn't turn off during the process, causing errors. If you haven't already done so, you'll be prompted to set a screen lock PIN or password, which you'll need to enter when you turn on your smartphone to access your encrypted files. Be sure to remember your password!
Android 4.4 and older...
If you are using a smartphone running Android 4.4 KitKat or older, you must set a PIN or password before starting the encryption process. Fortunately, this is not difficult, go to Settings - Security - Screen Lock. Here you can either choose a pattern, enter a PIN or a mixed password to lock the screen. You will use the same password after encryption, so pay attention to it.
Once you're done with this, you can return to the Security menu and click "Encrypt phone." You'll need to plug your device into a charger and read warning messages, and you'll almost always have to confirm your PIN or password one last time for the encryption process to begin.
Encrypting your phone may take an hour or more, depending on how powerful your smartphone is and the large amount of data stored on the device. Once the process is finally completed, you can enter your PIN and continue working with your encrypted device as if nothing had happened.
Once you return to the Security menu, you'll also likely learn about the ability to encrypt files on your MicroSD card. This is a recommended step if you want to keep all your data safe, but not really necessary if you only use MicroSD to store music or movies that have no personal value.
With this decision comes several caveats. Firstly, you will no longer be able to use MicroSD cards with other devices without complete removal encrypted data since other computers/devices will not know the encryption key. And although encrypted MicroSD card can still be used to move files, this will only last as long as you access the encrypted files from the phone used to encrypt them. Additionally, if you reset your device before decrypting your files, the key will be lost and you will not be able to access the protected files on your MicroSD card. So think through the situation carefully.
When you've finished...
That's all you really need to encrypt your Android device. This is a great way to protect your data much more securely. There is a minor trade-off in terms of performance, but any differences should be very difficult to notice on modern mobile phones.
Additional options with third party applications
If you don't want to go through the wringer of encryption on all of your device's data, there are a small number of Android apps in the store Google Play, which offer a variety of selective features, including encryption of a single file, text, or folder.
SSE - Universal application encryption
version: 1.7.0 (Pro) (downloads: 176)
SSE has been in this market for quite a long time and still seems to be receiving small updates. Instead of implementing bulk encryption of your phone, SSE can be used to protect and decrypt separate files or directories you need if you want to protect multiple items selectively. You can set a password that will serve as a decryption key, and you can also create encrypted copies of files or completely replace them.
The app also has a text encryptor and password storage. Text editor can be used to store encrypted notes that can be shared across platforms. The vault is designed to store and manage all your passwords, PINs, and notes in one secure place, protected by a master password. The feature works similar to LastPass.
Final Thoughts
Given the amount of sensitive personal information we contain on our mobile devices today, including bank details, encrypting Android devices becomes a smart solution. There are quite a few options that provide different levels of security, from a wide system Android encryption to applications dedicated to encrypting specific files. Please note, encryption is not provided full protection from everything, but offers excellent protection in case the device is stolen.
You use your Android smartphone (tablet) to save personal photos, read important emails, make online purchases using your credit card, edit and transfer important documents? If your answer is yes, then you should think about encrypting your device.
Unlike iPhones, Android devices don't automatically encrypt data stored on them, even if you use a passcode to unlock the device, but if you're running Android Gingerbread 2.3.4 or higher, it's easy to enable encryption.
Encrypting your phone means that if the phone is locked, the files are encrypted. Any files sent and received from your phone will not be encrypted unless you use additional methods.
The only difference between an unencrypted and an encrypted phone from a user's perspective is that you will now have to use a password to unlock the phone (tablet).
If your phone is not encrypted, then the password is just a screen lock. In fact, in this case, the password simply locks the screen - that is, it does nothing to protect the files stored on the device. So, if attackers find a way to bypass the lock screen, then they get full access to your files.
If the phone is encrypted, the password is the key that decrypts the encrypted files.
That is, when the phone is locked, all data is encrypted, and even if attackers find a way to bypass the lock screen, then all they find is encrypted data.
How to enable encryption on an Android device?
1. Open the Settings menu.
2. In Settings, select Security > Encryption (Encrypt device).
3. As required, you must enter a password of at least six characters, at least one of which is a number.
As soon as you set a password, the process of encrypting your files will begin. Encryption may take an hour or more, so you must turn on the charger before encryption begins.
Once the encryption process is complete, you're done! Make sure to save your password in a safe place because you will now need it every time you want to access your phone. Please note that if you forget your password, there is currently no way to recover it.
In fact, encryption of Android devices, along with obvious advantages, also has significant disadvantages:
- Imagine that every time you want to make a call you have to dial complex password. I wonder how long it will take for you to get tired of it?
- You will not be able to decrypt an encrypted device; this is simply not provided. To decrypt, there is only one way - to reset the phone to factory settings. In this case, of course, all your data will be lost. This will look especially interesting if you forget to make a backup copy first.
Thus, today there is a difficult choice - either you encrypt your device and put up with huge inconveniences, or you get ease of use, but at the expense of security. Which path will you choose? I don't know. Which path would I choose? I can’t answer either. I just do not know.
Vladimir BEZMALY , MVP Consumer Security, Microsoft Security Trusted Advisor
Google introduced full data encryption on Android phones running Gingerbread (2.3.x), but it has undergone some dramatic changes since then. like some more expensive phones, running Lollipop (5.x) and above, it is enabled out of the box, while on some older or earlier devices, you must enable it yourself. You can read how to encrypt flash drives.
Why you might need phone encryption
Encryption stores your phone's data in an unreadable, almost encrypted form. (In order to actually perform low-level encryption functions, Android uses DM-crypt, which is standard system disk encryption in the Linux kernel. This is the same technology used by various Linux distributions.) When you enter a PIN, password, or pattern on the lock screen, the phone decrypts the data, making it readable. If someone doesn't know the PIN or password, they won't be able to access the data. (On Android 5.1 and above, encryption does not require you to set a PIN or password, but it is highly recommended because without a PIN or password, the effectiveness of the encryption is reduced.)
Data encryption protects sensitive data on your phone. For example, corporations with sensitive business data on their phones will need to use encryption (with screen locking) to protect that data from corporate espionage. An attacker will not be able to access the data without the encryption key, although there are more advanced hacking methods that make this possible.
If you're a regular user, you might think you don't have sensitive data on your phone, but you're probably wrong. If your phone is stolen, the thief now has access to your electronic Mailbox, knows your home address, and a large amount of other personal information. Most thieves will not access data using a standard unlock code, regardless of whether the device is encrypted or not. Most thieves are more interested in selling your phone (resetting data) than in accessing your personal data. But this does not mean that you do not need to protect your data.
Things to consider before enabling encryption
Majority new Android phones come with encryption already turned on by default. If this is the case with your phone, then there is no way to disable encryption. But if you're using a device that doesn't have encryption enabled by default, then there are some things to consider before enabling it:
Performance deteriorates: Once you enable the encryption feature, the data will have to be decrypted on the fly every time you unlock your phone. So you may notice a slight drop in performance when it's enabled, although it's not noticeable at all for most users (especially if you have a powerful phone).
Encryption of existing data can be enabled once: If you have enabled encryption, the only way to cancel encryption is to reset the device to factory settings and all data will be lost. So make sure you are sure you are ready for this before you start the process.
The next screen will present a warning so you know what to expect once the process is complete, most of which we've already covered in this article. If you're ready to continue, click the "encrypt phone" button.
Another warning (seriously, we want to make sure you understand what you're about to do), do not interrupt the process under any circumstances. If you are still not scared, then click on the “” button and start the process.
The phone will reboot and begin the encryption process. A progress bar and estimated time to completion will be shown on the display, which should at least give you an idea of how long you'll be without your beloved phone. Just expect everything to be fine soon. You can do it. You are strong.
After the phone finishes the process, it will reboot and you will be together again. If you have set up a screen lock password, PIN, or graphic key, you must enter it into the system, after which the device will complete the power-on process.
If you haven't set up a PIN or password, now is the time to do so. Head to Settings > Security on your device. Next, select the "Lock Screen" option (keep in mind that the names of the menu options may be slightly different for different phones Android, and even for the line Samsung devices Galaxy).
If you look from the security side, then your Android smartphone is a compact box filled with important personal information, and you probably wouldn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands. To get a more realistic picture of the situation, think about your e-mail, SMS messages, saved credit card numbers, personal photos and other sensitive data.
I think no one would want to be in a situation where a stranger took possession of this data, because it’s scary to even think about the consequences of this. And this is the main reason why we come to different methods for organizing the protection of our phone or tablet, and data encryption is the main means of protecting data.
What is encryption?
Encryption is the reversible process of converting data into an unreadable form for all persons except those who know how to decrypt it. The only way to get the data back into readable form is to decrypt it back using the correct key.
Such things are easier to understand in simple examples, let’s say you lost your diary, and someone who finds it and knows Russian can easily read and find out your innermost secrets, but if you kept a diary in some kind of secret code, or a language that only you understand, then no one else would be able to read.
A similar approach can be applied to data stored on your Android device. A thief can take over your smartphone or tablet and gain access to personal data, but if the data is encrypted, then it will be just a bunch of useless gobbledygook that he cannot read.
We encrypt your Android
Android encryption is a very simple procedure. Please note that on different devices menus for data encryption may be located in different places. In addition, custom firmware and UI, for example Samsung TouchWiz UX, may have different requirements.
First of all, set a password or PIN code to lock the screen. This password or PIN will form part of the key to decrypt the data, so it is important to set it before you begin encryption.
Some device manufacturers install Additional requirements to security, for example on the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S4.
After setting a PIN or password, go to the “Security” subsection of the main menu and select “Encrypt Phone” or “Encrypt Tablet”. On different devices, the menu for data encryption may be located in different places, for example, in HTC One it is located in the “Memory” section in the main menu.
The encryption menu will look something like this:
The encryption process takes a long time, so it is important that your battery is fully charged. If there is insufficient battery power, you will receive a notification before encryption begins.
If everything is ready, click the button at the bottom of the “Encrypt Phone” or “Encrypt Tablet” screen. Here your phone will ask for a password or PIN code, enter it to confirm. A warning message will appear again, click the “Encrypt phone” button.
Your device will reboot and only after that the encryption will begin. You will see an encryption progress indicator on the screen. While the encryption process is running, do not play with your phone or try to perform any actions; if you interrupt the encryption process, you may lose all or part of the data.
Once encryption is complete, the phone (tablet) will reboot and you will have to enter your password or PIN to decrypt all data. After entering the password, all data will be decrypted and normal Android will boot.
Encrypting an external SD card
Some devices, such as the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S4, allow you to encrypt data even on external storage devices - SD memory cards.
Articles and Lifehacks
To understand what encryption is on a phone, you should talk about the possibility of intercepting various conversations on a cellular device and listening.
In order to confidential information has not become open and transparent to outsiders, and there are special programs against listening.
Why is encryption needed?
- Modern cellular devices are very vulnerable to such a popular program as a Trojan horse. A smartphone with such a unique spy opens up to curious ears.
- What is important is that it is unlikely that a person far from Internet technologies will be able to recognize the program. Apple iPhones are especially vulnerable to such eavesdropping programs.
- It should be fair to note that there are many other wiretapping options. cell phones, including via SIM cards.
- However, it is worth noting the possibility of encrypting telephone conversations. The most popular program that can protect the information of cell phone users is a utility called Cellcrypt Mobile.
- It was developed by British scientists. The advantage of this resource is that it can be installed simultaneously on both phones on which you plan to make calls.
- All information passes through the CSD channel. It turns out that calls are assessed not as communication over the phone, but through a modem.
The most famous encryption programs
- There are other special programs for encryption. For example, SecureGSM is a very expensive, but effective software that works not only in conjunction with cellular device, but also the Microsoft Windows Mobile system.
What’s noteworthy is that the program can work not only on common touch devices, but also on push-button phones.
- The Crytogic resource also does an excellent job of encrypting telephone conversations. Given software it will cost very little. However, the utility is focused only on Nokia smartphones.
Therefore, using even an inexpensive utility can be quite reliable and effective. However, the program cannot protect SMS messages.
- Among other effective encryption systems, we can highlight 5pro software secure voice, which has an incredibly simple interface.
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