Are your naked selfies safe? Researchers recover 100s of nude photos from second-hand smartphones

Security researchers have warned that the “factory reset” function on Android handsets fails to properly delete data after retrieving more than a thousand photos of men and women in “various stages of UnCloth” from second-hand phones.


The study conducted by Avast used advanced data retrieval techniques to recover data from 20 second-hand smartphone purchased from eBay.


More than 40,000 photos were recovered including “more than 250 selfies of what appear to be the previous owner’s manhood”.


The researchers were able to identify the previous owners of four of the 20 handsets, and described the amount of data retrieved as “astonishing”.


Avast say that the problem stems from the method of data deletion used by the handsets, with the ‘factory reset’ option only deleting the directory that points to the location of the data – rather than the data itself.


A Google spokesperson defended the OS, telling technology site Ars Technica that the researchers must have been using older Android devices and that their findings did not “reflect the security protections in Android versions that are used by 85% of users.”


This statistic suggests that Android users running version 4.0 and later should be safe using built-in data wipe functions, although Google also recommends enabling encryption on their smartphones – an option available under Settings and then Security.


Extra security conscious users can even load ‘dummy data’ onto their phone following a factory reset and then deleting that set of data that before putting the device for sale online.


For iOS users encryption is built in, with all Apple devices apart from the original iPhone, iPhone 3G, and first two generations of the iPod touch using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to secure data.

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/are-your-selfies-safe-researchers-recover-100s-of-nude-photos-from-secondhand-smartphones-9599373.html

na wa oh

pishures or adonbelievit!

Where are the photos?

i fine am tire sef

goalburner: Where are the photos?

I smell ios propaganda. Oh well, who cares.. Team BB

Everyone knows that Android is a porus O. S, I once wiped an android fone for my friend and some of the pictures he hid on applock survived the format... So if u want to sell ur Android..... Thinking u formatted it, think twice and investigate thoroughly

Please where are the female unclad pics? We cant just believe something like this without pics

Pls some1 shud tell me ow to delete it forever

ShirelleBaby: Pls some1 shud tell me ow to delete it forever

Lolzzzz.. D guilty like us plenty

ShirelleBaby: Pls some1 shud tell me ow to delete it forever

hehehehe I am not telling, I am not telling....will keep a look out on ur phone in d market...kikikikiki...*dancing skelewu*

To think that I rushed down here all because I wan view the photos.. Mtscheew

Warlord3000: To think that I rushed down here all because I wan view the photos.. Mtscheew

Ashewo.

put your pictures inside your memory card. simple!

We're having fun over here @

https://www.nairaland.com/1809737/girl-ever-expressed-feelings-before

Smartphones... Dumb users

...

FP tins

LOL researchers dey Find second hand phone for wat?

ShirelleBaby: Pls some1 shud tell me ow to delete it forever

come to my house around 7pm today I will help you. free of charge

Resurrected ghosts.

In other news....how safe is the incognito options on andriod browsers?




*opens Google Chrome, types www.bange.......
*delete
*select incognito option
*types bangerbros.com
Excited

*search for "blonde handicap albino midget getting creamied.

*uncovers vaseline. .....

Rushes in to see any pix,disappointed.

pishures of those photos or adonbilivit

where are dem pictures. seeing is believin

those researchers are always finding flaws on competitive gadgets to deceive consumers on how unsafe they are.