How to encrypt your Android device
There was a time, not so long ago, that the encryption of an electronic device might have caused others to assume that you had something to...
https://hoamb.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-to-encrypt-your-android-device.html
There was a time, not so long ago, that the encryption of an electronic device might have caused others to assume that you had something to hide.
Well, things have changed. We live in a post-Snowden world where it is simply wise to assume that your data is being monitored, or at least cached, by other agencies. And with phone and tablet thefts being so common, making sure a thief can’t explore your digital life is of paramount importance.
Locking down your ones and zeros isn’t just for the paranoid anymore. One of the simplest places to start is to encrypt your Android device—scrambling its embedded data.
If you’re a doctor, lawyer or business person you may have a legal and ethical responsibility to shield sensitive data.
If you’re one of the proletariat, as I am, your device is full of personal and work information, like account numbers and passwords, that can be used by racketeers and scammers.
Additionally, foraging by dubious and unsavory characters (like soon-to-be ex-spouses, for example) is easier than it ever has been.
To put it another way: No matter who you are, you have a lot of personal and maybe professional data on your phone that you wouldn’t want just anyone to be able to access.
Your lock screen just keeps someone from using your phone. But it’s not too difficult to get at the data residing on your phone by plugging it into a computer via the USB port. Encryption scrambles all the data on your phone with a special cryptographic key. Even if someone pulls all the data off your phone, circumventing the lock screen, the data will be useless without your key.
Bear in mind that it’s hard to know you’ve fully destroyed data on a phone. Forensic analysis of a defunct phone can conceivably expose info like text messages. If the messages are encrypted to begin with, there’s no way that they can be recovered.
It’s not all a walk in the park. Be aware that performance on older devices can be slowed through encryption, and it can negatively impact battery life, too. If your Android phone or tablet was made in the last couple years, it likely has special hardware to speed up encryption, and the impact on speed and battery life will be negligible. Also, encryption isn’t 100% foolproof (though it makes accessing your data so difficult and expensive that it’s probably not worth it for crooks).
Step 1: Plug in your device’s power cable and allow the battery to charge. Keep the power cable connected.
Tip: The encryption process can take as much as thirty minutes or more. If your battery dies and the phone shuts off in the middle of the process, the process will fail, and you’ll lose data.
Step 2: Open the device’s Settings and look for the Security menu item. Then select the Screen Lock menu item and choose a PIN or Password and follow the prompts to confirm it.
Tip: One drag with encryption is that you’ll always need to enter a PIN, or the longer password, to open the device. Longer passwords are harder to hack.
Step 3: Scroll to the Encrypt phone or Encrypt tablet option within the Security settings and choose the Encrypt SD card option by checking the checkbox. Select Next and confirm your PIN at the prompts.
Step 4: Press the Encrypt phone or Encrypt tablet button.
Tip: You can’t reverse encryption in Android. If you decide to decrypt your device later, you’ll need to perform a factory reset, which will wipe all data.
Step 5: Just wait awhile. The device will reboot several times during the encryption process, which can take 30 minutes or more. On completion, you’ll be prompted to enter your password, which is your PIN or password, depending on what you’re using. Whatever you do, don’t forget it!
Source : greenbot
Well, things have changed. We live in a post-Snowden world where it is simply wise to assume that your data is being monitored, or at least cached, by other agencies. And with phone and tablet thefts being so common, making sure a thief can’t explore your digital life is of paramount importance.
Locking down your ones and zeros isn’t just for the paranoid anymore. One of the simplest places to start is to encrypt your Android device—scrambling its embedded data.
Why encrypt?
If you’re a doctor, lawyer or business person you may have a legal and ethical responsibility to shield sensitive data.
If you’re one of the proletariat, as I am, your device is full of personal and work information, like account numbers and passwords, that can be used by racketeers and scammers.
Additionally, foraging by dubious and unsavory characters (like soon-to-be ex-spouses, for example) is easier than it ever has been.
To put it another way: No matter who you are, you have a lot of personal and maybe professional data on your phone that you wouldn’t want just anyone to be able to access.
Encryption vs. lock screen
Your lock screen just keeps someone from using your phone. But it’s not too difficult to get at the data residing on your phone by plugging it into a computer via the USB port. Encryption scrambles all the data on your phone with a special cryptographic key. Even if someone pulls all the data off your phone, circumventing the lock screen, the data will be useless without your key.
Bear in mind that it’s hard to know you’ve fully destroyed data on a phone. Forensic analysis of a defunct phone can conceivably expose info like text messages. If the messages are encrypted to begin with, there’s no way that they can be recovered.
Disadvantages
It’s not all a walk in the park. Be aware that performance on older devices can be slowed through encryption, and it can negatively impact battery life, too. If your Android phone or tablet was made in the last couple years, it likely has special hardware to speed up encryption, and the impact on speed and battery life will be negligible. Also, encryption isn’t 100% foolproof (though it makes accessing your data so difficult and expensive that it’s probably not worth it for crooks).
How to encrypt Jelly Bean and KitKat devices
Step 1: Plug in your device’s power cable and allow the battery to charge. Keep the power cable connected.
Tip: The encryption process can take as much as thirty minutes or more. If your battery dies and the phone shuts off in the middle of the process, the process will fail, and you’ll lose data.
Step 2: Open the device’s Settings and look for the Security menu item. Then select the Screen Lock menu item and choose a PIN or Password and follow the prompts to confirm it.
Tip: One drag with encryption is that you’ll always need to enter a PIN, or the longer password, to open the device. Longer passwords are harder to hack.
Step 4: Press the Encrypt phone or Encrypt tablet button.
Tip: You can’t reverse encryption in Android. If you decide to decrypt your device later, you’ll need to perform a factory reset, which will wipe all data.
Step 5: Just wait awhile. The device will reboot several times during the encryption process, which can take 30 minutes or more. On completion, you’ll be prompted to enter your password, which is your PIN or password, depending on what you’re using. Whatever you do, don’t forget it!
Source : greenbot
