Remote Wiping and Secure Deletion on Mobile Devices: A Review

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Cybersecurity
• Mobile Computing

Background:

• Mobile devices are ubiquitous, storing vast amounts of personal and commercial data.
• Device loss or theft poses significant risks of data leakage and financial loss.
• Remote wiping features are implemented to mitigate data loss but may have exploitable vulnerabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To survey and critically analyze existing literature on secure flash storage deletion for mobile devices.
• To investigate the potential for criminal exploitation of remote wiping features.
• To provide a theoretical and applied understanding of mobile device data security.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of secure deletion approaches for flash storage.
• Critical analysis and comparison of published research in the area.
• Prototype experimental validation on three Android devices.

Main Results:

• Analysis of various secure deletion techniques for mobile flash storage.
• Identification of potential vulnerabilities in remote wiping functionalities.
• Experimental results demonstrating theoretical findings on Android devices.

Conclusions:

• A comprehensive understanding of remote wiping security is essential.
• Further research is needed to address vulnerabilities and enhance secure deletion methods.
• Secure data deletion on mobile devices requires both theoretical and practical considerations.