Tell me more ×
Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for enthusiasts and power users of the Android operating system. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 13 down vote favorite
4

Are there any off-the-shelf options for securing the contents of an SD card so that files written by apps writing to SD are encrypted? If so, what is the best option?

I'm looking for something for all apps. I would strongly prefer to do it without rooting.

share|improve this question
While it's probably possible, I'm not sure if it's feasible, due to the processing costs of encryption. It would drain your battery very quickly. – Arda Xi Oct 5 '10 at 21:13
I've see CPU cost estimate as low as single-digit percentage for file system encryption in other platforms. That would be aceptable... unless processor designs would make it unattainable on this platform. – BrianCooksey Oct 5 '10 at 21:48
Do you want to do this for all apps by modifying the system itself or do you want to implement this in your app? – Felix Oct 5 '10 at 22:32
For all apps. I would prefer to do it without rooting, but I don't expect that to be a realistic restriction for current versions. – BrianCooksey Oct 6 '10 at 0:08
2  
Ice Cream Sandwich has an "Encrypt Phone" option in settings -> Security, but it's not clear if this includes the SD card, or just the internal memory of the phone. – rjmunro Dec 19 '11 at 18:36
show 3 more comments

4 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

For anyone who stumbles upon this topic. Motorola seems to offer a solution for full storage encryption of internal and sd card.

Link: https://motorola-enterprise.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/57094

share|improve this answer
Sounds like just what the poster's after. It isn't available yet, but should be in early 2011. It will be specific to Motorola Android devices. – GAThrawn Jan 6 '11 at 16:44
Here's what I found on that subject: android.stackexchange.com/questions/13174/… – galets Sep 20 '11 at 22:02
up vote 3 down vote

The samsung galaxy S has the ability to support a non standard filesystems. Hacking a filesystem together with encryption should be possible but probably takes a lot of time and as far as I know isnt available off the shelf atm.

share|improve this answer
up vote 2 down vote

Are there any optinos for securing the contents of an SD card so that files written by apps writing to SD are encrypted?

For all apps, you can only achieve this by modifying the firmware.

share|improve this answer
1  
Is there any firmware that supports this already? – BrianCooksey Oct 6 '10 at 2:24
@BCooksey: Beats me. I don't keep tabs on all of the alternative ROMs out there. Sorry! – CommonsWare Oct 7 '10 at 1:27
Can anyone else answer this question? This would be a reason for me to root my phone... – werner5471 Mar 2 '11 at 13:54
See my answer - this is something people are working on. – Broam Sep 20 '11 at 15:49
up vote 2 down vote

This is the entire purpose of the Guardian Project. Follow their progress - they're working on applications at the moment but they're doing good work and they are attempting to make an android version with transparent encryption.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.