Hack Device Lock

So, you've finally managed to get addicted to one of those free farming games, like Farm Story or Tiny Village. You play the game nonstop now, and the only thing stopping you is that dreaded on-screen notice to come back in 23 hours to finish farming or building. Come back in ...more

It used to be that you only had to worry about maids rummaging through your belongings in your locked hotel room. But now anyone with 50 bucks of hardware and some programming skills can hack their way in—as long as it's locked by keycard. At the Black Hat security conference ...more

With an Android device, you can replace almost any default app with a third-party offering. Don't like your home screen app? Replace it. Tired of the text messaging interface? Upgrade it. The same can be said for Android's lock screen. But while many third-party lock screen ap ...more

Android has several features built into the platform that improve user experience but require extra attention to prevent a security breach. By modifying these settings, you can drastically reduce the possibility of someone exploiting your device or intercepting information. B ...more

When it works, Android's Smart Lock feature is incredible. There's no need to enter your PIN when your phone "knows" it's in your hands — just unlock and go. But Smart Lock, particularly its Trusted Places feature, can be finicky sometimes. Most of Smart Lock's features are r ...more

Samy Kamkar, security researcher and friend of WonderHowTo, just had one of his devices featured in Mr. Robot. If you've never heard of Samy, you've at least probably heard of one of his hacks. For instance, the Samy computer worm that hacked MySpace, his compressed air trick ...more

In my last guide, I showed how you could crack the combination of any Master Lock combination padlock in 8 tries or less using my online calculator. Now, as promised, I'll be showing you how I devised the attack, which is based off the well-known technique that reduces the 64, ...more

Say what you want about Samsung's TouchWiz UI being cluttered or overbearing, but one thing you can never complain about is a lack of features. In fact, it's been almost 8 months since I first took my Galaxy S6 Edge out of its box, but I'm still discovering features to this da ...more

It started in Australia, and now seems to have made its way statewide—hackers are remotely locking iOS and Mac devices, holding them for a $100 ransom. Users awoke to the loud "lost iPhone" ringtone, with a message on their lock screen stating that "Oleg Pliss" has hacked thei ...more

Lock screen exploits are becoming increasingly common in the mobile world. Four weeks ago there was the iPhone 5 passcode bug (which just got fixed yesterday...kinda). Then there were a couple lock screen bugs on the Samsung Galaxy S3 two weeks ago. Now that GS3 lock screen b ...more

The Google Now gesture included in the Google Now Launcher and on Nexus devices isn't something I regularly utilize, and you might not either. There is a way to disable it, which is a good idea if you were executing it accidentally, but what's even better than disabling it? Re ...more

If you haven't heard yet, Google made it possible a couple months ago for every Android user running 2.2 or higher to track his or her smartphone or tablet using their Android Device Manager service. It's a super easy way to track, lock, and secure erase your Android device fr ...more

When my Nexus 5 received the Lollipop update, one of the first things I noticed was how subtle and quiet the new lock and unlock sounds were. Sure, this is a minor quibble, but it's also an easy fix. So I put together a flashable ZIP with the (in my opinion) much cooler lock ...more

At first, it seemed like a clever art installation housed on the web, but now we're not so sure... the Newstweek hack may indeed be legit. Earlier this year, Newstweek claimed to have developed a way to hack into webpages on a local Wi-Fi network using a homemade device that ...more

This year's Google I/O brought the announcement of Android L, as well as the Preview builds of L for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 (2013), installed using either ADB on Windows or fastboot on any computer. Unfortunately, those of us without a Nexus device are out of luck—but not ent ...more

While the Play Store has a plethora of apps available for finding lost Android phones, Google came out with its own web-based application, Google Device Manager, earlier this year to help you keep track of all your Android devices and remote lock, erase, ring, and track if nee ...more

In this article, I'll show you how to easily "hack" Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and any number of similar account types with an Android app called FaceNiff. FaceNiff allows you to sniff and intercept web session profiles over the Wi-Fi that your mobile device is connected to. ...more

Welcome back, rookie hackers! We recently began an exploration of ways to hack using the Bluetooth protocol. As you know, Bluetooth is a protocol that connects near field devices such as headsets, speakers, and keyboards. Its minimum range is a 10-meter radius (~33 feet) and ...more

Big bad Apple recently announced its next iterations of iPhones and the world went crazy—as usual. Displaying an array of cool colors and futuristic features, the new iPhone 5S and 5C will both be rocking iOS 7, a sleek, modern operating system that gets rid of the old icons a ...more

Keeping prying eyes off your device isn't always the easiest thing to do, especially once you lend somebody your phone to make a call. Seems that whenever someone is scrolling through your pictures or checking out your new phone, they always end up somewhere you don't want the ...more

Besides having an awesome name, widgets are nice little additions that help make your phone more functional and customized. There are plenty of Android widgets available in the Google Play store and from other third-party sites and developers, but XDA forums member Roymam deci ...more

Welcome back, my fledgling hackers! In this series, I am trying to develop your knowledge of digital forensics, which is valuable whether you're choosing a career in it or just want to know how your hacker activity can be traced. Few professional digital forensic investigator ...more

Ever since the release of iOS 6 for the iPhone in late September last year, people had been itching for the subsequent jailbreak. While the untethered jailbreak was released on Super Bowl Sunday this past February 3rd, many others couldn't wait and jailbroke their iPhones with ...more

For lack of a better word, a missing iPhone sucks. Not only do you lose a physical device that cost you a small fortune, but there's also the probability you'll never see your precious data again. Hackers and thieves might, just not you. To keep this from ever happening, there ...more

Back in 2010, iOS developer Daniel Amitay developed a camera security app for iPhones that used an unlock screen almost identical to that of the iPhone. The app was removed in mid-2011 (though, it eventually reappeared in early-2013, still available in the iOS App Store today ...more

Samsung's Galaxy series of devices have one common design theme that ties them all together—the physical home button at the bottom of the phone. This button can wake the phone, take you to your home screen, and even scan your fingerprint to securely unlock your device. The on ...more

The latest film addition in the American-produced Millennium series, The Girl in the Spider's Web, was just released on Blu-ray a few days ago. As you could expect, the movie has many hacking scenes throughout, just like the previous English and Swedish language movies centere ...more

When your iPhone goes missing, it's serious business. Depending on your usage, your whole life might be connected to your iPhone, not the least of which includes debit cards, credit cards, and Apple Pay Cash stored in Apple Pay. While it's nearly impossible for someone to use ...more

Samsung's popular Good Lock app has been updated to work on One UI and now lets you take full advantage of its awesome add-ons to customize your S10 in a few simple taps. One add-on in particular lets you get rid of mostly redundant indicators like the NFC "N" for a cleaner st ...more

Overall, iOS is more impressive than ever with its stability enhancements, security tools, suite of apps and services, and intuitive user interface. With each passing update, things just get better and better for iPhone users. But don't think for a second that this is all beca ...more

Since the San Bernardino shooting in 2014, Apple's been engaged in a game of cat and mouse with law enforcement. Authorities want access to evidence on criminals' iPhones, but Apple wants to protect all of its customers' personal data equally. The latest installment in this sa ...more

Smartphones are like high tech buckets that collect our personal information through constant use. This has some obvious benefits, like getting a more personalized experience with our devices. On the other hand, this data is a tempting target for bad actors looking to make a b ...more

The OnePlus 5T was just released, and it's packing several new useful features. While many OnePlus 5 buyers are feeling frustrated with the quick release cycle, lots of fans are still clamoring to buy the new device. Aside from the larger screen, most of the buzz around the 5T ...more

As smartphone users, we live in dangerous times. The value of phones continues to rise, making them prime targets for thieves. In 2015, the FCC estimated that one million phones are stolen each year, and with several devices starting to hit the $1,000 mark now, these numbers a ...more

So, you're on the way back from a restaurant and realize you left your iPhone there, but you're late for a meeting and can't go back yet. You may as well kiss that iPhone goodbye, right? Not yet, as long as the right person gets their hands on it first. But that potential do-g ...more

There's always an iPhone in our list of top phones for privacy and security, due in large part to advanced security measures like Face ID, consistent iOS updates, and easy ways to prevent unwanted access and excessive data sharing. However, some of those options actually do th ...more

Android's settings menu is actually pretty daunting. There are options for nearly everything, so in the sea of various menus and submenus, it's easy to overlook important privacy and security settings. On Google's Pixel phones in particular, there are 20 such settings that you ...more

When you have some form of lock screen security enabled, Android makes sure that you don't have to fumble around to enter your pattern, PIN, or password before you can call 911 in an emergency. It does this by adding an "Emergency Call" button to the bottom of the screen—but a ...more

On Monday, Feb. 4, Apple released the second developer beta for iOS 12.2. The update features bug fixes to users running iOS 12.2 beta 1, as well as four new Animoji for Face ID devices. Developers are strongly encouraged to update their iPhones. It's unclear at this time whet ...more

To serve as a framework for the "Nexus Imprint" feature in their new Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P smartphones, Google added native fingerprint scanner support to Android 6.0. Sure, Android devices have had fingerprint scanners in the past, but this is a unified, system-wide implement ...more

Android has a brand new mobile payments system, and it's rolling out to most devices as we speak. Android Pay, as it's called, will replace the existing Google Wallet app as an update, and it brings some awesome new functionality such as tokenization and the ability to tap-and ...more

The Android 9 Pie update brought a lot of visual changes, some of which are a little too reminiscent of iOS. There's the new gesture controls, which are okay, but then there are things like a left-justified clock and the fact that the recent apps menu now scrolls horizontally ...more

When Google released the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, they added official support for fingerprint scanning to Android's main code base. On the surface, this was done to ensure that the fingerprint scanner in their own devices could be used to its full extent, but because it was adde ...more

The first time a friend or family member asks if they can borrow your phone or tablet, you probably just hand it over without a second thought. But the second, third, and fourth times? Now it's starting to become a habit, and something probably needs to be done about it. Luck ...more

If you store important, sensitive information on your iPhone in Notes, you'll want to be more careful. When Notes syncs across your iPad and Mac via iCloud — devices that family members or coworkers may share — you run the risk of having your notes read, edited, and deleted by ...more

Your iPhone just went missing, and now you're panicking. You need it for work, to get around, to contact your friends and family, and pretty much everything else in your life. So, what are the chances you might get it back? The odds may be stacked against you unless it's just ...more

While iPhones may be more expensive than ever, it won't stop us from losing them or having them stolen. Whether you have an iPhone 5S or an iPhone XS Max, there's a good chance it'll go missing at some time during your ownership. It could end up in a couch cushion or in the ha ...more

We haven't had a working jailbreak method since October of last year, and that only worked for about a month until iOS 9.2 came out and shut down the loophole it was using. So all of those cool Cydia tweaks have been out of the question for quite a while now, unless you downgr ...more

One of the best things about Android is the ability to customize every aspect of your device to make it your own. However, unless you have prior knowledge or experience with every single setting available to you, you might have missed a few critical features without even knowi ...more