security

Each day more and more Android handsets are being sold, and that means users are faced with a major decision: To root, or not to root. Some of us will do it simply because we can, others will decide not to do it as they enjoy the phone as-is, but the majority of us will be on the fence about the whole idea of rooting. 

Hopefully some of those questions can get answered and you’ll have a clearer picture of the process and some understanding to make the decision a bit easier.  I’m sure this won’t answer every question you’ll...

Dunno about you, but that story the other day about a man's Motorola Droid being stolen out of his house (while he was in it, no less) left me more than a little paranoid. How would I wipe my phone should it be stolen?

Then came word from Lifehacker today that WaveSecure...

You knew this was going to end badly. Kid breaks into home. Kid steals Motorola Droid. Kid takes pictures of himself with the Droid. Droid uploads pictures. Kid caught. It's a cautionary tale.

Actually, it was a pretty scary situation for the homeowner, who got some of his stuff back thanks to the Android backup and security app Lookout.

Moral of the story: You can't always prevent your stuff from...

The bad news: There's a flaw in the Motorola Droid 2.0.1 software that can potentially allow someone access to your data even if you have a lock pattern set.

It seems that if your phone receives a call -- you can answer the phone without unlocking -- and hit the "back" button, suddenly you're in. No unlock pattern required. And that's bad.

The good news: For this...

There was a big fuss over the weekend over a huge Android SMS flaw that could leave our phones running our favorite operating system inoperable. To quote the security experts who found it:

"The bug is similar to the second iPhone bug in the way that it kills the telephony process (com.android.phone) and thus kicks the Android device from the mobile phone network," the pair state in their paper. "On Android the bug is...

Talk about elegant and secure: Android and the G1 have a unique unlocking feature. Instead of tapping in a security code, you draw a pre-set pattern on the screen, see the image above to see what we mean. This is a great feature -- you can quickly unlock the screen without having to compromise having all your data securely stored behind a "password."

What other surprises are are in store for today?