Galaxy S9 security issue!

[Leandro Lopes]

Hi, everyone!



I got a Galaxy S9 very recently and as everyone else, I'm really scared I might get robbed and loose my new very expensive phone, so I dug up all I could find about security features that I could use to either prevent it or get it back if I end up being that unlucky.



First, and very cool, on the Samsung website you have the "Find my Mobile" option which will automatically turn on the GPS so it can report back the location, which is something Google's similar service does not do, which means it's basically worthless, since I never have the GPS on unless I'm actually using it, in order to save battery!



Second, I noticed that you cannot turn off WiFi nor Mobile Data off if the phone is locked! You can turn it on, but not off, so, if a robber tries to turn off cell data, he can't unless he knows your lock code/pin/pattern/wtv. Since I always want to be connected to the internet to get facebook, instagram, e-mails, etc, notifications, if I leave home, I always turn on data, so, I'm always able to go to Samsung's website and use the "Find My Mobile" thing.



The problem is, and it's a HUGE problem, you can turn off the phone even if it's locked!! What the hell?! All those security features and you can just turn it off?? What's the point of not allowing you to turn off data to keep the service usable if you can just hold the power button and turn it off?? This is a HUGE security issue that we shouldn't be having in 2018. When batteries were removable, well, they could just take it off, but now that they're not, they should make it impossible for a robber to turn off the phone without unlocking it.



Am I missing some setting in which I can just disable the option of turning it off or what? If not, then, all is for nothing, because if a robber has half a brain cell, he'll just turn it off right away and it's gone forever.



Is there a way of disabling that? Does it require root?

PS. I know that if the phone freezes, it helps that you can just hold the power button a few seconds to hard reset it, but honestly, I wouldn't mind letting the battery drain instead. But besides, when does a phone even freeze that hard that it does not come back to normal after a few seconds? I had a Galaxy S4 before, pretty old phone and even that would only freeze for a few seconds sometimes. I would take the much added security over that any day of the week



Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[Hadron]

No, there's no way. This is lower-level than the android OS, and an android app won't change it (if you think about it, it works even if the Android OS is completely locked-up).

Of course if someone turns the phone off it's also useless to them until they turn it on again. And resetting it won't help them as it will trigger the factory reset protection, rendering the phone useless unless they know your Google login.

Anyway they could also remove your SIM, which would terminate your cellular connection too, so such a hack would only be a minor inconvenience to them.

P.S. GPS only uses power when an app is actively using location (as opposed to coarse location, based on networks, which I personally turn off). I've rarely turned my GPS off since 2010 and suffer no battery problems.

 

[Leandro Lopes]

No, there's no way. This is lower-level than the android OS, and an android app won't change it (if you think about it, it works even if the Android OS is completely locked-up).

Of course if someone turns the phone off it's also useless to them until they turn it on again. And resetting it won't help them as it will trigger the factory reset protection, rendering the phone useless unless they know your Google login.

Anyway they could also remove your SIM, which would terminate your cellular connection too, so such a hack would only be a minor inconvenience to them.

P.S. GPS only uses power when an app is actively using location (as opposed to coarse location, based on networks, which I personally turn off). I've rarely turned my GPS off since 2010 and suffer no battery problems.

@Hadron

Yeah, I guess there are other ways they could go off the grid, but my point was to try and make as few ways of doing it as possible so I could have more time to try and track it down before someone could do anything...

About the GPS thing, I guess I'll give it a try! I'll keep it off tomorrow all day and then on all day, the day after and compare the duration!

Thanks!