Accessing the internal phone memory by swapping out the SIM card

Question

Is it possible to access an Android phone's internal memory by switching out the SIM card?

My Android phone, with no SD card, has been stolen but access to the phone is locked via the "graphical pin".

Will it be possible to read internal memory after changing the SIM card? I am concerned mainly with the Gmail password I have stored on there.

roxan · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-30 04:21:14Z

4

answered Apr 30, 2012 at 4:21

roxan

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Will starting the phone in safe mode retain the lock screen or does it bypass the lockscreen?
– Sparx
Commented Apr 30, 2012 at 7:30
It will retain the lock screen.
– roxan
Commented Apr 30, 2012 at 7:47
How about gmail application and already downloaded threads? Has the lock screen some limit of unlocking attempts? Thanks
– Mooncer
Commented Apr 30, 2012 at 14:53
@Steffen: I believe this is configurable, but from what I've observed, it's 5 attempts 'til a cooldown period of 30 seconds. During this cooldown period, you'll have an opportunity to use your Google Account password as an alternative way to unlock your screen.
– ctt
Commented Apr 30, 2012 at 23:55
@Steffen: As for your Gmail, although all communication with the Gmail Server is encrypted, synced messages are stored in the clear on your phone. However, as long as you haven't rooted it (and as long as your bootloader is locked, and your operating system is up to date), this database should be safe from other applications. If you want to ensure that someone couldn't somehow read what's on the internal storage without going through the operating system, consider full-phone encryption.
– ctt
Commented May 1, 2012 at 0:10

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