future upgrades?

[sophe]

Hi there, I would like to say that this application beats competators hands down and I think will greatly assist in drawing in more users to this already awesome antivirus.

I have a few idea's and suggestions that I hope / wish would be implemented into AVAST future editions.

1.) The CC ALL function is missing a vital step , which is outgoing SMS messages.

2.) The AutoGPS On function alerts the user through the displaying of the 'GPS' Activated icon when user scrolls down from top of phone. And I don't think that it Auto-Turns-Its-Self-off after location acquired.
Would be good if the Icon did-NOT Activate during the acquisition of the phones location , and/or queried the phone as to weather it was already on prior to retrieval of the location.

3.) The way in which the location is retrieved / displayed on HOST PHONE. Iam not entirely sure how this works but assume that the information is only shared between HOST (myself) and Server (My Phone).. or is it also shared with (Middle-Man) you?.. Would be great however if the map etc could be opened through for example the GoogleMaps Application instead of via the Avast Website? Also google_maps has a great feature where you can enter consecutive locations xx.xxxx,xx.xxxx (long/lat) and it allows these coordinates to ALL be displayed , plotting a path of where my phone is going.

Another annoying thing I have found is 'QUERY TIMEOUTS' and 'QUERY CANCELED' texts... This could be caused by the person turning off GPS - to being underneath a lead roof etc. These messages could be perhaps annulled and saved to .log on phone for retrieval via other cmd. Instead perhaps it could just re Acquire the Location and only send once some-location has been discovered. Perhaps it could email all details including the above errors once coverage/signal strenthens?.. not sure.

Also.. The accuracy fo the location , perhaps we could preset a threshold for this for example <20 meters.. anything >20 meters would be saved to .log file. if any of the above errors occur , wait 1-2 mins and re-query location , loop until thresh-hold/location is found before sending ... perhaps 1 sms message could be sent to notify that signal/coverage is obscured.

4.) The Need to use the password as a token to exchange cmds between client and server. I think it would be better to have a universal token (preferably self assigned) like "!@vst locate" Instead of "<password> locate" for obvious reasons.. ie; password is sent unencrypted over network... etc.

This could be coupled with the Friends Numbers installed on the Device and only used by these assigned numbers if selected in settings to use only friends numbers. However a password could be used in-case of non-friends host phones.. as a backup .

5.) The Ability to take remote Pictures/Audio/Video ... This I think would be a great addition to AntiThefts already existing infrastructure. and could be perhaps setup like so.

Audio:
cmd: !@vst audio 30
des: saves and records to phone/sd card 30secs of audio.
action: sends via email to email_address
post: deletes files from phone/Optionally saves to phone for later recovery (file_name&location spoofed)

Photo:
pre: waits for phone to be in use, does not blank screen, no sounds, nothing. (Appears Normal to User)
cmd: !@vst pic 5 front or !@vst pic 5 back
des: takes 5 pictures using front/back camera android 2.2+
action: sends pictures as email to email_address
post: deletes files from phone/Optionally saves to phone for later recovery (file_name&location spoofed)

Video:

pre: waits for phone to be in use, does not blank screen, no sounds, nothing. (Appears Normal to User)
cmd: !@vst vid 30 front or !@vst vid 30 back
des: takes 30 second video using front/back camera Android 2.2+
action: sends video clip as email to email_address
post: deletes files from phone/Optionally saves to phone for later recovery (file_name&location spoofed)
Next the SMS system;

Although quite good I think it would be better to have alot of the details sent via email..
using either wifi/data would be great.

Some Changes to cmds;

cmd: !@vst email SMS <date> (dd/mm/yy) .. (not for SMS retrieval because of QTY)
action: email all in/out SMS messages from <date> to email_address
- same with calls , !@vst email CALLS <date> (dd/mm/yy) or !@vst get CALLS (for SMS retrieval)
action: email/sms all CALLS in/out to email_address

and..


cmd: !@vst email SMS <count> or !@vst get SMS <count>
action: email/sms last <count>SMS in/out to email_address
- same with calls , !@vst email CALLS <count> or !@vst get CALLS <count>
action: email/sms last <count> CALLS in/out to email_address

I think this about covers it.

Thank you for your time.
 












 

 

[Lisandro]

2.) The AutoGPS On function alerts the user through the displaying of the 'GPS' Activated icon when user scrolls down from top of phone. And I don't think that it Auto-Turns-Its-Self-off after location acquired.
Would be good if the Icon did-NOT Activate during the acquisition of the phones location , and/or queried the phone as to weather it was already on prior to retrieval of the location.

Although this would be good, I really doubt that avast! could change any system (or 3rd party) setting, in this case, the GPS icon.

4.) The Need to use the password as a token to exchange cmds between client and server. I think it would be better to have a universal token (preferably self assigned) like "!@vst locate" Instead of "<password> locate" for obvious reasons.. ie; password is sent unencrypted over network... etc.

And how would you get privacy if anybody could locate your phone... or you yourself?

5.) The Ability to take remote Pictures/Audio/Video ... This I think would be a great addition to AntiThefts already existing infrastructure. and could be perhaps setup like so.

It would be good if it could be done silently.

[sophe]

2.) The AutoGPS On function alerts the user through the displaying of the 'GPS' Activated icon when user scrolls down from top of phone. And I don't think that it Auto-Turns-Its-Self-off after location acquired.
Would be good if the Icon did-NOT Activate during the acquisition of the phones location , and/or queried the phone as to weather it was already on prior to retrieval of the location.

Although this would be good, I really doubt that avast! could change any system (or 3rd party) setting, in this case, the GPS icon.

on a Rooted phone you are not limited by the same rules as you would be on a non-rooted one. So there maybe the ability to do this.However , if not then .. simply turn it on/off as needed.
there would certainly be a way but this would most likely require a patched firmware of some sort.

4.) The Need to use the password as a token to exchange cmds between client and server. I think it would be better to have a universal token (preferably self assigned) like "!@vst locate" Instead of "<password> locate" for obvious reasons.. ie; password is sent unencrypted over network... etc.

And how would you get privacy if anybody could locate your phone... or you yourself?

This one is simple. Allow only the 2 "Friends" phone numbers to communicate with the phone , using the token ie; !@vst <cmd>.
or in-case of not being able to access these "Friends"  phones for some reason , use the pin-code as a backup option from any phone. In which case after finding the phone alert the user to change their password.

5.) The Ability to take remote Pictures/Audio/Video ... This I think would be a great addition to AntiThefts already existing infrastructure. and could be perhaps setup like so.

It would be good if it could be done silently.

There are apps out there that can do exactly this however most use a blank screen and lock the phone during the capturing of the data then allow the phone to function as normal afterwards.

note: copy and paste reply before attempting 'Capture code' or loose entire reply. and start again from scratch!

[sophe]

here are some example apps with the camera capture ability :

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lsdroid.cerberus&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oneos.antitheft&feature=search_result

They are not to bad , but simply do-not compare to AVAT.

*You are welcome to move this thread/post to a more private location if you wish.
 

[sophe]

have a look at this;

http://webkey.cc/

[sophe]

ok , I spent several hours testing cerb (above) and have found it to be not good.

13:07 Problem communicating with your device. Help

13:06 Problem communicating with your device. Help

13:05 CONNECT message sent.

That happens alot.. and even when the cmds did get through .. well nothing..

insert:When using the 'Locate' feature , it would seem that someone has a WIFI Hotspot setup nearby which
broadcasts out to around 2.5km. Cerb as well as AVAT both used this WIFI connection to locate the phone with an accuracy of 2000+km :\

please refer to this post for more information here

carrying onwards..
in a wifi environment it works almost as intended.. this is aside from the video capture side of things.

numerous connection errors and external server (middle-man) also makes this app rather dodgy.

however , in a wifi environment it does most of what it states and with good results.

couple of things to mention here , to hide the app you need to download the 'hidden' version.. which is not so hidden , because it has a fixed name and once opened the name of the vendor is in the 'title-bar'

after downloading and installing the hidden version you then need to proceed to the website - dashboard and use the interface to hide the app from the app-bar etc. Of course like all other 'hidden' apps it is visible through 'SuperUser' and 'Running Processes' which is expected.

moving on.

I do like the following features however;

-take photo either instantly or triggered when screen is touched. (blacks Screen whilst capturing)
-same with video , however does not work on my device. running 'Froyo' Android 2.2
-ability to select front/back camera (only through web interface , sms can only capture front camera?)
-capture audio via microphone. (Not tested , assume it works..)
-retrieve all current sms in/out via email (only tested via web interface)
-retrieve photos/videos via email (photos came through, video not processed correctly clientside and small 10kb.3gp files came through which did not work)

Other things worth noting , regarding these kinds of apps.

GO SMS PRODUCTS/SERVICES (Over 10,000,000 Users - The Facebook of Mobile Phones)

There will be a definite need to closely monitor the progress of these apps as alot of the current
anti-theft applications are not compatible with the above products.
hence rendering the systems useless.

Future features could entail;

The monitoring of
-email
-twitter
-tumblr
-web-browsing
-IM's
-FaceBook
-bebo
-myspace
-misc dating sites..

*Perhaps the best way to monitor all of the above is to monitor the apps & traffic and extract the relevant info into a form.ie;

process:
facebook.sh >
connected @ 10:45am >
chat started with criminal_friend @ 10:46am >
me: hey ! Guess What???
criminal_friend: Wad up homie?
me: I just stole a phone , I mean found it at school
criminal_friend: MEAN^_^ Bring it over
me: Ok.. See you soon
me > liked 'I stole a Phone and am using it now 2 Facebook '
disconnected 11:05am

AVAT > email recieved with details above.

!@vst locate

pay homies a visit


-media (photos/videos taken on device)
-SD-Card Contents.

Perhaps have the ability to ssh to the phone remotely using WINSCP or other such application for transferring to/from device...

perhaps applications installed could also be monitored.

that all aside and having tested 90% of (known) Anti-theft products I will still conclude that AVAST wins hands down.


Final note. To make this the Ultimate in services ,  Invest some time and money into making it the best solid solution and Iam 110% sure that Avast will become the industry leader in this much needed field.

only qualm , remove the middle-man.

Client <---> Server ! Client <---> Middle-Man <---> Server



*Also , thanks for removing silly capture thing.. really was annoying.

if you need/want something to block spammers then may I suggest stopforumspam - I use it when building forums/websites and it is very good.

If that does not provide a solution then a search for stop forum spam simplemachines

*Another Note
I think that Googleplay is starting to knuckle down on apps that perform several functions such as those implemented in Antitheft applications. However this is the Beauty of Android/Linux and the "Only download from trusted Sources" Toggle. If they refuse to come to the party then you could host the AVAT.apk straight from here ..

Unlike Apple , we are still free to roam away from the 1-STOP-SHOP's , which is why I don't own any Apple products.