Smartphone firmware helps both its owner and intruders who can steal it. To protect your android phone from firmware, you need to use special mobile applications.
What is firmware and why is it needed?
Firmware is software, or rather, an operating system (OS) that interacts with the hardware of the phone and the user, allowing programs to run and perform various functions.
Why do you need to flash your phone? The updates fix operating system errors and various vulnerabilities, as well as introduce new functions and capabilities, which improve the usability of your smartphone / tablet.
There are also custom firmwares, that is, unofficial ones. Many mobile applications are able to get full access to the user's personal information, transfer it over the Internet, call and send SMS to suspicious numbers, etc. With the help of such firmware, programs are launched in "incognito" mode and applications will not be able to access personal data. For them, the user's contact lists, browser history, calendar events, and messages will appear completely blank. Even if the GPS navigator is enabled on the phone or tablet, the application will not know about it and will not be able to determine the user's location.
Why do I need protection against flashing and how is it carried out
The most likely reason that someone might need to protect their android phone from flashing is to protect the phone in case of loss or theft. There are many different mobile applications that can help you locate and / or recover a stolen phone. For example, by restricting access to the phone. In order to enable it, you will need to enter a password or correctly answer a predetermined mathematical expression.
Also, applications can notify the owner of the phone using SMS when it is lost. To do this, a list of other SIM cards is set in advance, which will be perceived by the application as legal, and to which an SMS will be sent with information such as the IMSI number of the inserted SIM card and the location of the phone (based on data from the cellular network, GPS or Wi-Fi) …
In addition, there is an option to automatically turn on the protection system every time the phone is started or when an unknown SIM card is detected. There are applications that can take pictures of the thief's face, record his voice, report the numbers to which calls were made, change the volume of the ringtone, etc.
All these features of mobile applications will help protect a mobile phone in the event of theft, as well as quickly detect it, preventing an attacker from reflashing the device.
