Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Google stores data security wifi passwords of Android phones ... - Süddeutsche.de

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17 July 2013 17:05

“wifi passwords on Google servers secure”: This backup feature is enabled on most Android devices factory

. (Photo: Screenshot: Android OS )

you have a secure wifi password? Google probably knows it anyway. Android as a backup sends the credentials to the Google server – unencrypted. Is potentially affected every network in which an Android phone was logged once.

It involves many millions of passwords. About a backup feature that is activated in most Android smartphones, wifi access is transferred to Google’s servers. Once this is done, users will be able, even with a brand new Android device log immediately in all known WiFi networks – once they are logged into their Google account, because the account knows the password or from backup

.

The flip side of this convenience: Google stores the passwords unencrypted on its servers. And also leads a worldwide database with the names (SSID) of WiFi networks in order to also be able to determine the current location without a GPS signal, for example, navigation apps. Leads to these records together, each WLAN is theoretically open to the once an Android device has logged.

backup feature in the Android devices is not new, and Google also does not conceal its purpose: “secure app data, WiFi passwords, and other settings to Google servers,” it says in the accompanying text on the Android devices. The function is activated with most factory. You can find it “Save and Reset” in the system settings under the menu item.

Micah Lee, employee of the civil rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation, now complains that the unencrypted passwords are obviously on Google’s servers – and are thus hardly protected from the example of intelligence

.

That

wifi passwords are stored centrally, is not uncommon. Even in Apple’s iPhone is integrated with the so-called Keychain Function like. However, where the data is encoded with a key that is unique to each phone. Even Google’s Chrome browser offers the ability to access data stored prior to synchronization with Google servers to encrypt with a password known only to the user. One such option Lee calls for the Android operating system.

As long as the passwords are not encrypted on Google’s servers, this information is not protected against the request of government authorities, Lee writes.

that is broken with these passwords in a private network, though unlikely – especially since the perpetrator must be located within radio range to the WLAN. For organizations or large corporations but the risk of industrial espionage is quite plausible. And there it goes straight , according to Heise Online often about more than just wifi access. Thus, it is common for many companies to use the same password via so-called “Single Sign On” for wifi, proprietary VPN network or even the personal e-mail of the employee.

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  • source and Editor: Süddeutsche.de / mahu / bbr

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