Image: Ellis Hamburger, Business Insider
See Also:
The Samsung Galaxy S II Is Nearly Perfect, The Best Android You Can Buy On ATT [REVIEW]
iPhone 5 Cases Pop Up At ATT Stores Sporting Revamped Design, Mute Switch On Other Side
This Is The Text Message ATT Sends When You’re Being A Data Hog
Remember that great ATT model of the Galaxy S II we reviewed this week?
Turns out there’s a pretty big security flaw with it. BGR found that if you have a lock screen set up, it can be easily bypassed.
All you have to do is wake the phone up to the lock screen, let the display shut off on its own, then wake the phone up again. The lock screen will be gone and you can access the entire phone, no problem.
We tried it with our Galaxy S II and we can assure you the problem is very real.
Luckily, we did not notice the flaw in the Sprint version of the Galaxy S II.
ATT launches the phone on October 2, so we hope a software fix can be pushed out before then.
UPDATE: Samsung and ATT both gave us a statement on the security bug, including a way to temporarily fix it until they can issue a software update. Here’s the statement:
Samsung and ATT are aware of the user interface issue on the Galaxy S II with ATT. Currently, when using a security screen lock on the device, the default setting is for a screen timeout. If a user presses the power button on the device after the timeout period it will always require a password. If a user presses the power button on the phone before the timeout period, the device requests a password – but the password is not actually necessary to unlock it.
Samsung and ATT are investigating a permanent solution. In the meantime, owners of the Galaxy S II can remedy the situation by re-setting their time-out screen to the “immediately” setting. This is done by going to the Settings-Location and Security-Screen unlock settings-Timeout-Immediately.
Article source: SAI http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~3/508rrrkjuJw/att-galaxy-s-ii-security-flaw-2011-9