Is your phone secure? Watch Android 6 Marshmallow's factory reset protection get bypassed in less than 11 minutes
About a year ago, Google introduced a new feature in Android, called Factory Reset Protection. The feature does just what the name implies – if the phone has been factory reset before you released it from your account, it will remain locked until you log in with your own details again. Prior to this feature getting activated, bypassing the security on an Android device and claiming it as your own was easy – just hold power and volume down, enter the Recovery Mode, and go straight for a factory reset. So thieves may not have been able to snoop around your personal photos, but they could've surely made your Nexus 5 their own property.
Sounds great that factory reset protection was introduced, sure. But, of course, the flora and fauna of Android being as diverse as it is, many smartphone owners could easily end up not having the feature. Some OEMs only applied it to their flagship devices, while others would turn it off in favor of their own solution, which required the user to be aware of said options and navigate not-so-intuitive menus to turn the protection on. And, you can be sure that people quickly figured out ways to bypass the security without much trouble.
So, now, when we are up to Android 6.1 Marshmallow, a build that has native fingerprint scanner support and lots of security improvements, you might think that the Factory Reset Protection has been tightened up a bit. Until you watch this 11-minute video on how to easily bypass it, that is. The process takes a little bit of timing in the beginning, and some intricate navigation through Android's menus afterwards, but it's still doable with no external cables or software needed. It's kind of mindblowing that someone sat down and figured all the steps out, actually, but there you go – it's possible.
source: Rootjunky
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