I have had a malware/hacker problem with my home computers, network and mobile phones for approximately 18 months. I am hoping that someone with your team will be able to help diagnose and assist in permanently removing the issue as I have not had any success with help from others to date. The malware seems to persist across factory resets and/or firmware flashs. Device details are listed below, at the end of this post.
The phones will randomly download/upload personal content, i.e. files and folders, to cloud accounts and other devices, randomly open and close applications, alter or corrupt files that have been downloaded to the phone, change file location on the devices, alter permissions, block or change root status (if rooted), deny un-root, disallow applications to be installed, removed or function correctly, hijack the wireless/blue-tooth and mobile data capabilities, eavesdrop on phone conversations and access the devices camera and microphone, communicate with other devices, possibly controlling them to a certain extent..
Similar problems exist with the personal computers. Mobile data usage has increased from 5G per month to well over 50G, reaching as much as 100G in a months time. I was forced to change plans with my internet service provider to accommodate data usage of 600G a month from the 300G plan I was on originally, where I only used 1/3 of that or less per month. Lastly, my identity has been stolen multiple times over the 18 month period I have had this problem. I am concerned the infection resides at the hardware level but I do not know how to confirm if that is possible with Android devices and don't want to purchase anymore new device as I have previously tried with 6 desktops, 4 laptops, 5 smartphones, 5 routers and 4 modems.
I have reached out to the local authorities, computers repair shops and worked with some of the top names in the anti-malware industry, only to be either turned away with disbelief or the lack of capability to do something to resolve the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Device List
Mobile Phones:
- Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus (currently in service with Verizon)
- Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (currently in service with Straight Talk, previously Verizon)
- Samsung Galaxy S7 (not in service, original service provider: AT&T)
- iPhone 7s (in service with Straight Talk, previously Verizon)
* If necessary, please inquire about additional computing and networking equipment.
lol
Sounds like the easiest solution is to take a hammer to everything and start fresh.
Related
I was talking to some co-workers about my G1 and the features that the 1.5 firmware adds to the phone. One co-worker says he'll never get an Android phone because he heard it had security issues. Specifically, he heard that the phone's location services is always broadcasting the phone's location while the phone is on, and that it is possible to use that broadcast to remotely connect to the phone (and therefore take data off the phone).
I tried searching, but couldn't find anything in Google or elsewhere that confirms or refutes this supposed security issue. Anybody know if this security issue is real or is my co-worker misinformed?
I guess he might be referring to Google Latitude. Latitude is a service similar to Loopt that lets you share your location with a list of Google contacts of your choosing. It's completely optional and off by default. There is another remote access service where Android Market may remotely delete an installed app that was downloaded from the Android Market if it was found to have violated one of the Market's TOS. This does not affect apps not installed by Market. A similar guideline is in place with the iPhone and Blackberry stores.
All phones that access a cellular network can be tracked some way or another, regardless of what operating system is installed. It's not hard to understand why: in order to use the cell network, you have to connect to a cell. Now that cell knows approximately in a few km radius where you are. Using timing triangulation, cell networks can locate a person to a few hundred meters. This kind of information is accessible by emergency services.
In reality, your coworker(s) are no more qualified to speak on Android as they are about any other mobile phone operating system on its privacy as they (I assume) have never seen the source code of any of them.
compupolis said:
I was talking to some co-workers about my G1 and the features that the 1.5 firmware adds to the phone. One co-worker says he'll never get an Android phone because he heard it had security issues. Specifically, he heard that the phone's location services is always broadcasting the phone's location while the phone is on, and that it is possible to use that broadcast to remotely connect to the phone (and therefore take data off the phone).
I tried searching, but couldn't find anything in Google or elsewhere that confirms or refutes this supposed security issue. Anybody know if this security issue is real or is my co-worker misinformed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android is one of the (if not absolutely the) most secure mobile OS available.
Providing the location of the device is PURELY OPTIONAL, and does not IN ANY WAY create a security risk. Just because you know the location of something does not mean that you can get into it. Take an armored car as an example. It can be driving down the street right in front of you, and that does NOT help you break in to it.
In fact, the location is absolutely USELESS for breaking into something. If there was a security vulnerability, it would be the NETWORK ADDRESS (location independent) that would give someone a viable attack.
Now as it sits, Android is Linux -- well known for very strong security (unlike that redmond virus that is known for seeking out and installing every kind of self destruct mechanism it can find). But unlike a standard linux distribution, when multiple programs are run by a single user, each of those programs are run as a DIFFERENT USER. Each program gets unique credentials within the system and is isolated from all the other programs. That means that if you have one program that is BOTH listening for network connections AND provides some bug/backdoor/etc. through which someone could break in, then that person breaking in would be restricted strictly to the userspace of that particular program. In other words, they could get or break the data for THAT PROGRAM and not any other program.
You can get the same degree of poorly written programs for ALL operating systems. What makes a system secure is what it does to keep one broken program from taking down the rest of the system, and for this, Android is very strong.
So now you can tell your coworker that he is full of $61t.
Can someone indulge us on how Iphone's security works? I'm pretty sure that it's inferior to G1's but I'd like to know the facts so I can stick it to couple fanboys that I know.
Hello,
I'm about to develop an app that is intended to run on chinese android tablets. It is going to do some simple animations, sqlite database, and communicate on a wi-fi internal network.
The last part is the one that scares me. This app is going to be designed to simplify the data handling in a business and it needs to be connected between 12-18 hours a day threw a wi-fi network. The network will consist in something between 10-50 tablets and a pc working as server. All the comunication will be done threw java sockets. And all the tablets will have a good wi-fi signal. But I'm afraid that because of some bad-quality wireless driver/card. It disconnects itself, messages get corrupted, corrupted messages are writen in the database and as a result nothing will work and I will have my cellphone flooded with complaints from several businesses.
So, I'm just being paranoid or can I count on these tablets to work as they should? Anyone has some experience developing for them to confirm that I'm just paranoid? I'm about to order one actually to test this particular issue, but maybe someone already did and maybe save me a headache or two by telling me their experience.
Also, should I expect them to stop working after a fixed amount of time like some other chinese products?
I picked these tablets because of their price and because they are needed in large quantities. If I say we are going to need 50 Galaxy Tabs, this project will fail; I need to be able to provide a cheap solution. I will be ordering them directly from China. If there are any known models I should stay away i would love to know them as well.
Thanks
It's not a phone issue but I'm having an issue with an at&t usb modem and hopefully someone here can help me becuase i've gotten absolutely nowhere with at&t support...
Here's a little background info before I get to the real issue: I was recently migrated to at&t in the merger from alltel (a little less than a month ago, the date of my actual migration was 4/14). I was sent a sierra wireless data card (the "shockwave"). I had an alltel wireless card for years and always had unlimited data, so before the migration i was assured by at&t that i would be grandfathered in to an unlimited plan. After recieving overage warnings 3 days after my at&t device was activated, I found out I was migrated into a 250MB plan and was told I needed to file a claim to get my unlimited plan back. In the meantime, the device worked great and I used it at least once a day up until I recieved an email from at&t stating that my claim had been resolved and I was granted the unlimited data plan.
The device has not been able to connect to the network since. I've spent hours (literally about 12 hours) on the phone with their tech support over the past 8 days and nobody can figure out why I cant connect ever since my package changed. Honestly they havent had me do much to troubleshoot other than reinstalling device drivers (several times) and having me try other laptops. Eventually they sent me a replacement device stating that the newer devices may not be compatible with their old billing codes (as they no longer offer the unlimited plan under normal circumstances), so they sent me an older model, the sierra wireless "lightning" (fyi, I have both devices still). This device is doing the exact same thing: It connects (or seems to, anyway) for a split second, and then disconnects with error code 635, which the support people tell me means i have no coverage (although, according to their own website is a "random error code") and aside from telling me to uninstall and reinstall the device drivers, they will not troubleshoot the issue any further. The connection manager always shows at least 3 bars of 3g at my home (where most of the troubleshooting has taken place). I have also traveled with the device in the last few days and have tried it in 3 different major cities getting the same error every time, so I am confident it is not a coverage issue. At one point, an at&t representative told me I probably need a different initialization string due to my unusual plan, he put me on hold to research the issue and after I waited several minutes our call was lost and i was not able to get to him when i called back. I mentioned what he was researching to the agents i spoke with after this (i'm not sure if he was on to something or not, but i figured it was worth mentioning) but they disregarded it and went back to having me uninstall/reinstall drivers again and again.... and again.... to no avail. Unfortunately, I'm not at all knowledgeable about this stuff so I have absolutely no clue how to even begin to troubleshoot the issue on my own. Either way, I have gotten nowhere and i REALLY need to get this working. BTW, I have tried the device on 4 different laptops, with the same result every time (three are windows 7 laptops and one is vista). Hopefully somebody here will have some suggestions for me?
Hello
I have an International Note 3 (unlocked, unbranded) Exynos (N900).
I would like to know whether there is a difference in the tethering support / method / features of the stock tethering feature vs. using a 3rd party App like PDANet+ etc.
The reason for my question: I have an uncapped data plan as part of my mobile package, but I am not sure if tethered usage (to my PC) is allowed and whether I am safe (won't be charged extra) while tethering through the stock setting?
Please, any advice is appreciated.
If your carrier is anything like Three and O2 in the UK - As soon as you start tethering they pick up on it and send you a message about it informing you that tethering is not permitted, need to get the right plan etc and they D/C your mobile net for 30minutes. Only way to test is to try really
You need to figure out whether you have tethering included in the plan. If you don't then in terms of it being "safe" to tether, you're violating the terms of your agreement with your mobile carrier (at least in the States, don't know how the rest of the world works) if you attempt to mask tethering as regular data usage. If however the carrier has specifically either said they don't care whether you tether, or that tethering is allowed as part of your mobile data, then you're safe to tether however you so choose.
The last thing you want to do is do nothing. You're not harmed at all by verifying with your carrier. Five minutes on Google is enough to demonstrate the possible negative side effects of tethering without checking first:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1706143
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2204186
Also worth noting that I've seen some "Root your phone and tether with a third party! They'll never know!" solutions that have definitely not been solutions. I prefer playing it safe to doing something that could really cause me a lot of problems. Most carriers you can pay ten or twenty bucks a month extra, lock in a tethering option, set a data limit on your phone, and have peace of mind.
radicalisto said:
If your carrier is anything like Three and O2 in the UK - As soon as you start tethering they pick up on it and send you a message about it informing you that tethering is not permitted, need to get the right plan etc and they D/C your mobile net for 30minutes. Only way to test is to try really
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on Telkom Mobile (South Africa) - the first carrier to have an unlimited package here in SA (unlimited calls, sms, data...) and unfortunately there is very little documentation on the package. No info about tethering as such. I also have not received any warning messages or anything.
BewareAlbatross said:
You need to figure out whether you have tethering included in the plan. If you don't then in terms of it being "safe" to tether, you're violating the terms of your agreement with your mobile carrier (at least in the States, don't know how the rest of the world works) if you attempt to mask tethering as regular data usage. If however the carrier has specifically either said they don't care whether you tether, or that tethering is allowed as part of your mobile data, then you're safe to tether however you so choose.
Also worth noting that I've seen some "Root your phone and tether with a third party! They'll never know!" solutions that have definitely not been solutions. I prefer playing it safe to doing something that could really cause me a lot of problems. Most carriers you can pay ten or twenty bucks a month extra, lock in a tethering option, set a data limit on your phone, and have peace of mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I am interested in is that, for example PDANet claims they have a feature that fools the mobile network that the data packets look like they are from the handset, and not the tethered PC. So I was wondering if Samsung's default tethering does the same, or how does the different tethering options handle the data packets differently..
But thanks anyway folks, I am not looking to violate anything by downloading excessive amounts of data, it is just for that odd time that I need internet on my laptop.
LubbeSGS said:
I am on Telkom Mobile (South Africa) - the first carrier to have an unlimited package here in SA (unlimited calls, sms, data...) and unfortunately there is very little documentation on the package. No info about tethering as such. I also have not received any warning messages or anything.
What I am interested in is that, for example PDANet claims they have a feature that fools the mobile network that the data packets look like they are from the handset, and not the tethered PC. So I was wondering if Samsung's default tethering does the same, or how does the different tethering options handle the data packets differently..
But thanks anyway folks, I am not looking to violate anything by downloading excessive amounts of data, it is just for that odd time that I need internet on my laptop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best way to look at it is: If the tethering feature you use (WiFi, USB, Bluetooth, etc...) shows up on your monthly statement as separate tethering usage, than it doesn't violate TOS. If it was supposed to show up separately and it shows up lumped into data usage, then you're probably violating TOS. So if you're not sure and you don't know what the policies of your carrier are, then using any service that tries to mask that the data is being carried over to another device is probably bad.
That being said, there are grey examples. For example, one carrier I use, T-Mobile, allows BYOD. They market that quite heavily. So I brought my own device, a rooted Nexus 4. Since it's unlocked and under my own ownership and not leased from a carrier I can make toast out of it or use it for exploratory nasal surgery, T-Mobile has no ability to have a problem with what I do with it so long as it doesn't do naughty things to the telecom itself.
I have contacted them repeatedly to bring up the fact that my Nexus 4, with no attempt at being sneaky whatsoever, using the default tethering features, sometimes arbitrarily shows up as hotspot data and sometimes doesn't. They have yet to figure out a solution or send me an app I can install. I have always been up front about this weirdness, and they have in return never bothered me about abnormal bills weighted either one way or another.
One other thing you could do is you could pick up one of those handy prepaid USB mobile broadband sticks from a MVNO or whatnot, where when you want Internet you just pay a few bucks and it gives you a certain amount of gigs, and when you consume them you can just pay for another block. Then if you don't need it again for three months just throw it in a drawer. Really useful.
Samsung holds your phone hostage!
1. Blocks you from factory resetting your phone even when you provide your identity (You really have to go above and beyond to prove that you are who you say you are even with an unlocked phone)
2. Samsung stores your information and continuously uploads your information from your phone photos texts and all even when you disable items it reenables and blocks you from making changes in system settings
3. Tech support is not in the US in fact it isn't even in Asian perse it's in Indonesia or Pakistan and the customer service is in my experience not so friendly
4. The fact that you have to provide your full address, full name and date of birth for security reasons and it still doesn't count unless you provided every number you ever used with the device this is TRACKING You
5. Why is Samsung like Google so hell bent or survielence of it's users... You spend money for your device and they continue to act like youre an renter of the device instead of the owner.
5. My device is an unlocked South American device although I am in North America. Once I get this matter sorted out with Samsung I am selling off all of their devices Will never purchase anything from Samsung again. Also stay clear of Google, Microsoft and Amazon devices. So many things that I could say that are a security risk and a true risk to national security... The countires taht are at war with each other are also in cohoots together if you look at the security certificates on your phone. You attempt to delete, remove or disable those items Google and Samsung will diable your phone... block you from browsing the net, can block your camera, block you from doing basic things with your phone that you own. This is telecommunications/technological terrorism and warfare.