[familia5az]

If I unlock and root what risks are associated with this if I stay stock?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

[dmmarck]

What do you mean? Well, you could lose your warranty, and if you installed a custom recovery (ClockworkMod or TWRP) you won't be able to "take" official OTA updates.

[familia5az]

What I'm concerned about is my personal data being vulnerable( banking info, passwords, keystrokes, things that normally may not be exposed or vulnerable if I was locked.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

[dmmarck]

What I'm concerned about is my personal data being vulnerable( banking info, passwords, keystrokes, things that normally may not be exposed or vulnerable if I was locked.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

I'm not expert in security, but I believe most of that stuff is truly only vulnerable if someone gets a hold of your phone. I recommend apps like Cerberus. Check that out.

[Poseign]

I'm not expert in security, but I believe most of that stuff is truly only vulnerable if someone gets a hold of your phone. I recommend apps like Cerberus. Check that out.

Not only would you need someone to get a hold of your phone, that person would also have to be a tech-savvy individual with knowledge of how to navigate a rooted and ROMed phone. Having a rooted and unlocked phone by itself isnt the security problem. The problem lies in it falling into someones hands who knows how to steal the app data from that phone and use it at their whim. Is there a security vulnerability with rooting your phone? of course. The question is how likely is that situation to occur to you? and what do you keep on your phone that would be that high of a risk?

Granted, there could be more to the security vulnerabilities of a rooted phone that I'm not aware of, but in my specific case the rewards of the added features of the custom ROMs outweigh the risks.

[ConTejas]

Nothing really to add other than using pin/pattern/password on a rooted device is the same as locked/stock phone. Plus, an app like Lookout allows you to remotely make your phone "scream", turn on GPS to locate, and even completely wipe the phone from another compter. Also, any apps that use sensitive information (banking, financial planners, gWallet, etc.) have their own security measures in place to protect you. I personally don't feel my phone is at any more risk than it was stock. Perhaps a super hacker would disagree, but I would imagine someone with that talent would either use that skill to make a legitmate living or find something much more lucrative as a criminal.