About encryption in Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)

2.9k views Asked by At

Here is my interpretation of the Encryption API found in HoneyComb preview SDK. I would like to know if the community thinks the same.

As a device admin, an application first has to check weather Encryption is supported by the tablet (in hardware). I don't think there is software encryption algorithm in honeycomb (it will defenitely slow down the tablet). So, if there is hardware support, the admin app can call the start encryption method (setStorageEncryption). This will trigger the hardware encryption process. According the honeycomb preview api documentation, this will encrypt only the application storage area (i.e. all the internal memory - my guess) and not the external memory (sd card).

SDK:

This policy controls encryption of the secure (application data) storage area. Data written to other areas (e.g. the directory returned by getExternalStorageDirectory() may or may not be encrypted.

I came across an engaget article that says that the motorola xoom has an option to encrypt the entire tablet. This is a bit incomplete and misleading. Does this mean that Motorola has extended honeycomb to encrypt the SD card as well ?

Also, can anyone comment on my interpretation above ? Let me know if anyone has different ideas about encryption from the preview SDK or any other "sources" !

Since this question is closed, you can comment on this article here.

0

There are 0 answers