Possibly a bit of a dangerous thing to ask about, but I heard about a researcher named Charlie Miller uncovering an exploit through which he could do some fancy hacking on Android phones just by having them scan a NFC tag. I am interested in these hacks, using the old saying "it's not a bug, it's a feature", it could not only be used to perform malicious activities, but also enhance the possibilities of NFC. I seek to use this enhancement. My biggest idea in mind yet is use a tag to make a phone connect to wifi. It may seem like a simple idea, but you need additional software just to make the phone connect to wifi, since giving the command to connect is not standardized. This does impede the potential of NFC a bit, and me being the sort of person who keeps on messing around with his phone ROMs (believe me, my S3's flash count is skyrocketing), computer hardware and Linux distro's because it is never good enough simply can't just leave untweaked hardware and unremoved limitations alone.
There should be a command to turn wifi on? That's the closest you can probably do without installing software
x10man
As far as I know, officially the command has to be launched from an app that has the permissions to do so. As far as I know a bit of hacking is required to do it in another way.
Related
This is not troll baiting or OS Slamming...
Looking for knowledgeable and constructive feedback regarding device security. I'm thinking in terms of an Executive or VP or Network Admin or such loosing the device. a piece of software
1) to do more to control access than a squiggly line
2) to allow for remote GPS tracking and/or device data wiping
3) that is stealthy and/or hard to remove.
I know there are a few "security services" out there but that leads me into "how do i know whose who and who can be trusted in the android segment". I place a great deal of trust in the developer of my ROM. That he/she/they are benevolent and not including by intent or negligence loggers or other malware. then i have a companies like Wave and Norton and Good all angling to get installed on my device. i don't know Wave nor Good and I have no luv for Norton.
The EVO allows for RDC and VNC sessions. It allows for VPN access and has the pwd's to my personal and work email. meebo has me signed into all my chat networks. As a long time Windows person I guess it's just a lil disconcerting when i stop and think on it. this device can easily be configured to hold everything needed to access a secured network. Perhaps this is a reflection on my lack of understanding the system in depth. perhaps i'm not sure how well the opensource community will communicate "problem" apps and developers.
Also, and kinda sorta related. Applications in the marketplace. sometimes you get an application and the types of security access it is asking for seems a bit "off". occasionally in the comments the developer may comment that "i need to access X in order to provide Z". It usually makes sense (whether true or not i cannot say), but is there any nice cross-reference of what types of actions require what access level. or why so many apps need to know the phone state and identity or general location or full network access and what exactly that means to me as the end user. this second paragraph is proving difficult to put to paper..i may come back and edit for clarity.
and lastly, i guess is a question on how to protect from apps like this...
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/060210-android-rootkit-is-just-a.html?page=1
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/commercial-spying-app-for-android-devices-released/4900
looking for something kinda like this, but useful...
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/06/28/understanding-the-android-market-security-system/
This is not troll baiting or OS Slamming...
Looking for knowledgeable and constructive feedback regarding device security. I'm thinking in terms of an Executive or VP or Network Admin or such loosing the device. a piece of software
1) to do more to control access than a squiggly line
2) to allow for remote GPS tracking and/or device data wiping
3) that is stealthy and/or hard to remove.
I know there are a few "security services" out there but that leads me into "how do i know whose who and who can be trusted in the android segment". I place a great deal of trust in the developer of my ROM. That he/she/they are benevolent and not including by intent or negligence loggers or other malware. then i have a companies like Wave and Norton and Good all angling to get installed on my device. i don't know Wave nor Good and I have no luv for Norton.
The EVO allows for RDC and VNC sessions. It allows for VPN access and has the pwd's to my personal and work email. meebo has me signed into all my chat networks. As a long time Windows person I guess it's just a lil disconcerting when i stop and think on it. this device can easily be configured to hold everything needed to access a secured network. Perhaps this is a reflection on my lack of understanding the system in depth. perhaps i'm not sure how well the opensource community will communicate "problem" apps and developers.
Also, and kinda sorta related. Applications in the marketplace. sometimes you get an application and the types of security access it is asking for seems a bit "off". occasionally in the comments the developer may comment that "i need to access X in order to provide Z". It usually makes sense (whether true or not i cannot say), but is there any nice cross-reference of what types of actions require what access level. or why so many apps need to know the phone state and identity or general location or full network access and what exactly that means to me as the end user. this second paragraph is proving difficult to put to paper..i may come back and edit for clarity.
and lastly, i guess is a question on how to protect from apps like this...
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/060210-android-rootkit-is-just-a.html?page=1
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/commercial-spying-app-for-android-devices-released/4900
If the app seems fishy don't download it you can allways get lookout from the market it will pull your phone up on the gps and tell you exactly where it is I've tested you can also make it chirp real loud as for them accessing your phone put the pattern lock on in stead most thiefs are not hackers so they probably won't be able to access your phone even if you hard reset you still have to draw the pattern I mean unless they full root the phone and wipe it in petty sure you will be ok hope that helped
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Lookout kinda falls into the same category at Good or Wave. (at least to me thus far). All appear to be fine and yet somehow free products. I'm looking for a corporate solution, not end user solution. a free solution would be swell, so long as trust can be established.
i am looking at this from a corporate IT security perspective. not a young person, a enthusiast nor regular end user. heck, if I could get all of my users to actually know what is meant by "if the app seems fishy don't use it", most of my job would be completed. but to be honest, i'm still trying to get a grasp on that myself in the android world, hence the question about access levels in last paragraph of original post.
the zigzag is nifty and should protect from casual access. Froyo will provide an interface that a secured Exchange server would prefer to have. that will help.
( BTW ... if anyone knows how to make the red line not appear when you mess up the pattern lock...you'd be my personal hero for the day)
its not thieves that I'm worried about...it's my own end users that have to be protected from themselves. if a device was left in a bar or cab and did end up in the wrong hands....data could be sold, deals could be lost, people could be embarrassed, with the type of data that 'can very easily' exist on these devices...network security itself can be compromised. and sadly, i must assume that a good many end users will disable security if they are able to. for the same reason they ***** at automatic screenlocks on their desktop/laptop computers.
would you rather your IT team "hope/pray/expect the device will be picked up by some incompetent/benign/lawabiding citizen" or the opposite?
i choose to prepare for the worst...hope for the best. not the other way around. hence, my questions.
Isn't remote wipe being built into froyo somehow? Thought I read that somewhere.
I have my exchange email set up on my device and it requires me to use a passcode. I cannot disable it.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
As for wiping data remotely wave secure will do that it might be close to what you need or something for the time being hopefully this will help
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
This is kinda sorta what I'm lookn for.
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/06/28/understanding-the-android-market-security-system/
We have a patent pending on an app suitable for Android, iPhone, etc. It requires manipulation of the outgoing audio stream during a telephone conversation.
If this is within your capability, and your team:
1. Has a proven technical capability in this area.
2. Can pass a background check.
3. Is willing to execute an NDA/NCA.
4. Is in the continental U.S.
Then we would like to talk with you. Please respond to notaguruatgmaildotcom to initiate a dialog.
Thanks!
Not to discourage you or anything, but a developer who meets those requirements is probably going to be asking for at least $150k a year.
Not only that, if your goal is to make changes to an audio stream before it goes over the air, it's probably not possible; certainly not for Windows Phone 7 or iPhone.
The way phone calls work on cell phones is that the mic is wired directly to the internal modem hardware, the sound doesn't go through the OS on its way over the air, so it can't be intercepted, modified and resent. That's how it's worked on the phones I've worked with. At best you will only be able to get a copy of the audio stream, and even that would take a jailbroken phone.
Or you could rewire the insides of your phone, but that would require another $150k engineer.
Thanks.
This is a single task, though as usual there must be ongoing support and evolution. I was hoping that an app company would respond, but that hasn't happened.
We have built prototypes using landline phones, with great success. In a cellphone, this could become a killer app with wide usage. But if the OS cannot gain access to the audio stream prior to the modem, that's a problem that can only be solved by incorporating the invention in hardware. A possibility, but it requires relationships above my pay grade.
Perhaps we need a consultant, not an app developer...
noguru said:
Perhaps we need a consultant, not an app developer...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either way, be prepared to shell out cash, or stock options if your idea is really good.
I have a project (NFC Vending machine) based on Arduino which calls a function called nfc.readPassiveTargetID(PN532_MIFARE_ISO14443A)
Which returns a simple UID of the device that is tapped to the NFC antenna. This is used to identify the user, display their name and account balance, relay to coin acceptor and then saving the new balance back to an SD card.
This application works perfectly with my Nexus 4, a friend's stock Nexus 4, as well as any NFC Tag.
When I try using a new Galaxy S4 however, the application finds an ID from it, however it CHANGES every time it's scanned? Does anyone have any idea how to stop this from happening? I'm not opposed to writing an app if I can write an app that stops this from happening (some function in code that can set the UID to a static unchanging value, maybe using wifi mac address as a base)?
When I try scanning a co-worker's Droid DNA, NOTHING happens. NFC is on, beam seems to work, but nothing happens. I'm wondering if I install an app that reads/writes cards and tell it to perform an activity maybe that will 'wake up' the nfc chip making it active and forcing it to spit out an ID?
I have a feeling I'll have to use an "if id is not found, try ndef" and write an app that can send an ndef message that is the wifi mac address (so it'll be unique), though I haven't done much in the way of app development, though I'm very familiar with playing with all kinds of nooks and crannies in the filesystem to do fun things in android. I'm not opposed to learning, and have been trying, just not too familiar with java which certainly doesn't help... In any event, I'll be diving in and punishing myself with more hours of reading soon...
I realize this is a rather unique project and I may not find a resolution here but any ideas anyone can offer would be a big help. In the meantime I'll continue reading up on the various actions that are available to the programmer regarding nfc in the android sdk...
Thanks for any suggestions!
EDIT: I forgot to add, while I realize NDEF is an option (one that will require me learning a fair bit), it adds a great degree of difficulty in working with Arduino, which doesn't seem to have much in the way of libraries/code for handling NDEF, particularly peer-to-peer...
I turned on my tablet the other night and on the screen was a system dialog box that said a new security profile (or something like that) was applied. It gave a number of the build but I can't remember what it was. I thought by clicking OK I would get some more info, but that was it. I checked for updates and there was nothing. I got no other information.
Anyone else see anything like this? I guess it's possible it was linked to some app I have installed. But the popup window definitely looked like a system framework box.
Edit: I guess I did find on the Security tab in the settings that it is set to Automatically install new security policies. So that would make sense, just wondering what might be included in this update?
I'm pretty sure that would be the same security profile updated to version 013 message that I saw as well. If I am to guess, we can thank Samsung Knox for that message.
<synicism>
Thank you samsung for applying a security profile update that I can't see the details of to a device I don't want Knox installed on in the first place.
</synicism>
<rant>
Wish they would put as much effort into getting an update released that fixes bluetooth keyboards. Or how about functional support for BT 4.0, like it suggests on the box? Yes, you can pass the buck to Google on that one, to which I reply, why was this tablet released on 4.3 when these bugs were known?
I generally love this tablet, but the defunct bluetooth combined with screen mirroring related reboots and the Knox warranty crap really has me waiting for someone else to release a non-crippled 10.1 high dpi tablet with an active digitizer so there is some incentive for Samsung to get its act together. Toshiba isn't even worth mention.
</end rant>
dpersuhn said:
I'm pretty sure that would be the same security profile updated to version 013 message that I saw as well. If I am to guess, we can thank Samsung Knox for that message.
<synicism>
Thank you samsung for applying a security profile update that I can't see the details of to a device I don't want Knox installed on in the first place.
</synicism>
<rant>
Wish they would put as much effort into getting an update released that fixes bluetooth keyboards. Or how about functional support for BT 4.0, like it suggests on the box? Yes, you can pass the buck to Google on that one, to which I reply, why was this tablet released on 4.3 when these bugs were known?
I generally love this tablet, but the defunct bluetooth combined with screen mirroring related reboots and the Knox warranty crap really has me waiting for someone else to release a non-crippled 10.1 high dpi tablet with an active digitizer so there is some incentive for Samsung to get its act together. Toshiba isn't even worth mention.
</end rant>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This message?
What's the harm? It's updating something already in place that you can't evaluate so why be up in arms about an update that you can't see to evaluate either? Samsung updates a bunch of stuff passively so it's kind of a trust exercise. Since passively doing bad things to people's s/w and h/w without their consent is a sure way for a publically held company to make the front pages of the news (in a financially damaging way) I'm trusting them until given a reason I shouldn't. Do you know what Google's changed security policy enforcement wise when they roll out updates to Android?
BT keyboard usage isn't broken. You need to disable the on-screen keyboard the first time you pair it. From then on the on-screen keyboard's automatically disabled when the BT keyboard is connected.
KNOX is benign when not in use with the exception of the warranty flag that detects the use of unknown ROMs being loaded on the device. I use KNOX on my N3 and N10.1-14 and like it. I also haven't had a single issue related to it.
And it's here to stay.
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-t...-move-blackberry-users-android-and-ios-230343
Go do a little homework on android 4.3 and bluetooth keyboard issues, then I'll be glad to talk about constant disconnects, key repeats, etc. The note 2014 is even worse than other 4.3 tabs in the bluetooth dept. I have gone through 4 BT keyboards so far and each has disconnect and/or key repeat issues in a major way. This is in no way related to disabling the soft keyboard.
Like I said, it starts with google and some will lay the blame there and hold samsung harmless. I guess I have a higher expectation of quality control and since I bought a samsung product and have no direct relationship with google. Samsung selected this version of android for installation, so I think it is very reasonable to hold them accountable for the functional state of the resulting device.
As for Knox, I'd love it for managing enterprise devices as an MDM platform, but there is a reason MDM software has to be INSTALLED on other platforms. It's intrusive by its very nature. I'm not using this device in a corporate environment, it's my personal tablet. As such, knowing that Samsung has the reigns on a corporate MDM tool that wasn't advertised, I had no say in adding or removing, and also provides no visibility into what they consider an appropriate security policy, isn't exactly inspiring trust. You can trust them all you want, I don't see them as being any better than Apple at this point.
My ultimate point is simple. Samsung is wasting resources reinventing the MDM wheel and forcing it on everyone (whether they want it or not) while there are numerous functional issues with this tablet that aren't being addressed. I see that as a questionable ranking of priorities. If they're worried about device security, how about starting by keeping up with updates to The base android install.
---------- Post added at 02:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:46 PM ----------
Also worth mentioning is the complete lack of release notes that go along with the system updates. Think about that for a minute. How do I, as a user, ever know from one update to the next what issues have been addressed, what functional changes have been made, or what areas might have been modified so I can make an educated decision regarding if/when to update?
Samsung has proven that they can and will remove things from one version to the next as they see fit. Why can't they actually tell people what to expect by putting out proper release notes like any respectable software developer would be expected to do? Samsung lacks the skill or capability to do what developers of $2 apps in the play store are capable of? Surely you jest...