How to "Harden" Your Android phone (2.2 - 2.3)

[brotherswing]

Oh, really? I must check that out....

 

[AndyOpie150]

Another app that is really good is LBE Privacy guard. It will allow you to set the permissions that an app can have. It does not matter what the developer has given it. You can allow or disallow any and all privileges. You would be shocked to see all the privileges a developer sometimes gives an app, like the ability to gain access to your call logs and system and to change them or make calls, etc.
This is way better than a firewall. I deleted my firewall because it was no longer needed and was just taking up space.
It will not work on non-rooted phones.
The best way to achieve the most security on an android phone is to gain root access. You can then fix most all the security holes using custom ROM's and rooted apps designed to solve most all the security problems that Froyo ROM's have. The biggest security risk would then be the apps that you download from sources other than the market.

Without root access your stuck in a security Swiss cheesed ROM (Froyo)

 

[aldamon]

Another app that is really good is LBE Privacy guard. It will allow you to set the permissions that an app can have. It does not matter what the developer has given it. You can allow or disallow any and all privileges.

Ooooooh that sounds tasty. Thanks!

 

[SuppliedRelic]

I do apologize.

It's ok.

 

[AndyOpie150]

Ooooooh that sounds tasty. Thanks!

Keep in mind that the app will not work on non-rooted phones. All it will be able to do is tell you what permission you have inadvertently given each app.

 

[sleedeane]

Deleted. Senseless jargon.

 

[MacFett]

Keep in mind that the app will not work on non-rooted phones. All it will be able to do is tell you what permission you have inadvertently given each app.

It didn't work well on a roots phone either. It pretty much broke everything. I couldn't send or receive SMS or mms or browse the net or view my contacts.

 

[AndyOpie150]

Works great on my phone. I have it set to prompt me to allow everything but access to phone ID, I have to choose to allow or disallow that in the settings for each individual app. Everything still works for me. I make sure I allow those apps that really need to use the Phone ID. And disallow those that don't.
If set in this manner it will work great. Not only that, but you will know when an app is doing something you would not normally have known about. It's surprising just how much some apps try to access location, and call logs.

At any rate: It may not work for some, but it works great for me (this is why I mentioned it).

 

[sleedeane]

But I have a good security tip.

If you live in a town whose crime rate is really going up, fast, like my town, where people will are getting dangerously bolder than ever before, don't drive around with navigator or Ulyses speedometer lit up on your dash, just screaming, "grab me".
I didn't realize the potential danger I could have been putting me and my phone in until my buddy brought it to my attention that I was being pretty stupid "advertising" my nice phone on my dash everywhere I went.
I guess were back to the common sense thing, my own of which I question.

 

[AndyOpie150]

We all have those "Wake up and smell the coffee" moments from time to time.

 

[aldamon]

Keep in mind that the app will not work on non-rooted phones. All it will be able to do is tell you what permission you have inadvertently given each app.

My phone has been rooted since day one but thanks. It works great. I appreciate the app suggestion.

 

[iwantbruce]

Hey guys, me again.
I can't really tell what the difference is between Opera Mobile and Opera Mini.
I do most of my web browsing sitting in front of my wifi, so I guess I don't care about how "compressed" anything is as far as racking up any data.
And I don't have a computer to "link" up to or anything like that.
Which one should I use?

Thank you

I just read somwhere about OperaMini. It uses about 10% of the bandwidth vs. the full Opera browser. It uses "flash" entirely to accomplish this, and I would assume the same holds true for Dolphin's mini version as well. This means with mini you won't get full functionality but pages will load faster, & bandwidth consumption lowered by a factor of 10. I haven't used a mini version, I think Dolphin is good enough for me, it sure is way more useful than the stock browser, safer to use too, according to what I've read here in AndroidForums. Hope that helps.

Edit 12/16/2012 : The recent version of Opera performs very well, faster page loading than Dolphin, but Dolphin's bookmark system gives more flexibility. Both are on both of my devices, my OptimusV and my $99 Arnova 7G3 tablet.

 

[iwantbruce]

LBE Privacy Guard may be Malware and a data miner. Please be careful. Read this AndroidForums thread, this guy couldn't install any other apps after uninstalling LBE Privacy Guard. http://androidforums.com/esteem-all-things-root/555032-lbe-privacy-guard-possible-malware.html