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Abstract

Nowadays, smartphones and tablets are replacing the personal computer for the average user. As more activities move to these gadgets, so does the sensitive data with which they operate. However, there are few data protection mechanisms for the mobile world at the moment, especially for scenarios where the attacker has full access to the device (e.g. when the device is lost or stolen). In this thesis, we tackle this problem and propose a novel encryption system for Android, the top-selling mobile operating system. Our investigation of the Android platform leads to a set of observations that motivate our effort. Firstly, the existing defense mechanisms are too weak or too rigid in terms of access control and granularity of the secured data unit. Secondly, Android can be corrupted such that the default encryption solution will reveal sensitive content via the debug interface. In response, we design and (partially) implement an encryption system that addresses these shortcomings and operates in a manner that is transparent to the user. Also, by leveraging hardware security mechanisms, our system offers security guarantees even when running on a corrupted OS. Moreover, the system is conceptually designed to operate in an enterprise environment where mobile devices are administered by a central authority. Finally, we provide a prototypical implementation and evaluate our system to show the practicality of our approach.