After upgrading my mobile device to the Nexus S from Google, I was poking around in the security settings when I found something new. Android 4.0 now has full-device encryption capabilities. This means that while enterprises wishing to gain the usefulness and beauty of information design presented by mobile BI vendors like Roambi but have been skeptical of data security now can rest at ease.
The full-device encryption and Android 4.0 isn’t easy however. Device owners must secure their device with a password or pin, so no fun face-unlock capabilities but for many used to dealing with corporate BlackBerrie’s I’m sure this is a minimal sacrifice.
After going to Settings > Security to enable encryption, you must provide a password or pin. The next step is for your device to reboot and encrypt all of its contents. During this time you’ll see the following screen:
This process will take about an hour. Once this process finishes you’ll now be required to enter your password to decrypt the device anytime you reboot it. Here is what that screen looks like:
That’s all I’ve got so far, I’ll update this post with more details as I get them. The main thing here, and reason I posted this is to draw attention to Android 4.0 device security for mobile BI vendors. Anyone serious about mobile BI and Data Security should start adopting this platform.
doe the full disk encryption include all system files??
Good question. Based on the message the device popped up during the process I am leaning towards yes. I think there are some more details on the android forums. If you find out please reply with what you found.
Thanks!
With the device encrypted, does it restrict the types of lock screens you can use? Can you still use “Slide” or “Pattern”, or are you required to use “Password” or “PIN”?
Yes it does restrict you to password or PIN. From a security perspective I’m sure this is good news, but from a user perspective it annoys me endlessly.
Why can I not set it up with a PIN on Android 4.0 on Samsung Galaxy SII? Does anyone have the same issue
Same issue here. It only accepts a password, not a PIN.
Anyone knows if I can define a different PIN to unlock the screen? Or the boot password must be the same to unlock the screen?
does anyone know if the new HTC One X with android 4.0 supports full device encryption? or has HTC screwed this up aswell.