The truth behind Android’s “Remote Wipe” ability

My morning started as most of my mornings do, Tablet in hand I trudge around my house making sure my little ones are getting breakfast and readying for school. I flick through all of the news and commentary I may have missed in the last 8 hours, catch a few webcomics, and if I am feeling adventurous I will even check out Twitter. This was one such morning where a flick through twitter revealed more than a few people upset that someone had discovered a “kill switch” in the Thunderbolt source code. Through the Droid Rage, it was pointed out that this bit of code is not exclusive to the Thunderbolt.

You can find the snippet of code that I will be referring to HERE.

package com.android.server;

import android.content.BroadcastReceiver;

import android.content.Context;

import android.content.Intent;

import android.os.RecoverySystem;

import android.util.Log;

import android.util.Slog;

import java.io.IOException;

public class MasterClearReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver

{

  private static final String TAG = "MasterClear";

  public void onReceive(Context paramContext, Intent paramIntent)

  {

    if (paramIntent.getAction().equals("com.google.android.c2dm.intent.RECEIVE"))

    {

      String str = paramIntent.getStringExtra("from");

      if (!"google.com".equals(str))

        int i = Slog.w("MasterClear", "Ignoring master clear request -- not from trusted server.");

    }

    while (true)

    {

      return;

      try

      {

        int j = Slog.w("MasterClear", "!!! FACTORY RESET !!!");

        RecoverySystem.rebootWipeUserData(paramContext);

        int k = Log.wtf("MasterClear", "Still running after master clear?!");

      }

Read more: Android and me

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