Airwatch & Root

[DrgnRebrn]

My company will be requiring Airwatch to be installed on any mobile device that accesses company email, on the 15th of this month. There is only a little information on XDA related to this, most of it being >7 months old & not very informative; however I've learned the following:

-AW can detect root
-AW allows the admin to encrypt device & SD storage, track the device via GPS, & view installed apps
-I suspect, but don't know for sure, they can also perform a full wipe - should the device security be compromised.

What I'd like to know is if any XDA users are familiar with this app/IT security measure. Is there a way to bypass root detection, or have a source in IT create a custom profile, on the server end, that would not flag my device?

I own my SGS3, & pay for my service, as my company initiated a BYOD policy a few months ago. Now they say I have to install this if I want to continue to access my email, calendar, contacts, etc. The choice is mine, but I'd prefer to have my cake & eat it to, if possible.

So, I'm putting it to the brilliant collective minds, thoughts, experience, & expertise of the XDA community! Any thoughts, accounts of direct experience (admin or end-user), solutions, suggestions - anything would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Samsung Galaxy S3
OdexedBlue ROM
Trinity Kernel
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[DrgnRebrn]

Bump....

Samsung Galaxy S3
OdexedBlue ROM
LI3 Stock Kernel
LIF Baseband
XDA Premium - Support our developers, modders, & themers!

 

[DrgnRebrn]

Bump... Still nothing! What a bummer!

Samsung Galaxy S3
OdexedBlue ROM
LI3 Stock Kernel
LIF Baseband
XDA Premium - Support our developers, modders, & themers!

 

[Speedin07si]

Honestly I wouldn't want to give my company access to my personal phone like that... You never know what they can look at that they aren't telling you. Plus tracking the GPS, that's pretty much the same as getting the ankle monitor when you on house arrest. Total invasion of privacy.

I'd pay the $20 for another line on my family share plan And use that for a business phone. That way unless I'm at work or do a on call shift I can turn the phone off and not have to worry abut being tracked.


Sent from Pluto.

 

[stevesprivateaccount]

Do you really need email access on your phone that badly? Seems like you are giving up a lot...

Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

 

[DrgnRebrn]

Well they used to pay for my old blackberry, then initiated the BYOD for everyone. I get approximately 250 emails per day, have all off my contacts on outlook (I had backed up my BlackBerry contacts that way), and I typically have my days packed with one meeting after the other. So, being able to use my phone, instead of carrying around my laptop, to access emails, contacts, & my calendar is extremely useful and convenient.

I'd read on a thread for a similar security product that you can have a custom profile built that will disable the check for root functionality on that. That's why I began looking for possible solutions for Airwatch by posting this thread.

Bottom line though, I will not install it if there's not a work around, or solution of some kind.

Samsung Galaxy S3
OdexedBlue ROM
LI3 Stock Kernel
LIF Baseband
XDA Premium - Support our developers, modders, & themers!

 

[Speedin07si]

Your place of employment sucks... that's like saying "hey if you want to use your phone for work, well then we own it but you will pay for it."

I mean I get why they have the safeguards in place, just a sucky situation.

I'd still go with my idea, get another line galaxy note 2 would be perfect.

Sent from Pluto.

 

[fuimeng]

atm there is no way u can bypass the root check from AW.
but u can disable AW frm "Device Administrator" @ Security when u are off from work.
And install it back when you are back to office.
(click the enrollment link from your email to activate AW)

 

[trmixing]

I actually work for Airwatch, If you own your phone and the company didnt supply it it doesnt matter if your phone is rooted or has a custom rom. its YOUR phone. Yea every week on the AW client it'll report compromised device but its your phone so your company cant say anything to you unless they provide you a phone.
just turn turn off a lot of access and tracking stuff with in the AW app as well

 

[xTMFxOffshore]

The other thing would be, perhaps a 3G tablet? Unless you absolutely need to make phone calls, that way you can check e-mails and all that jazz, and turn off GPS. Just my two cents. Either way, good luck!

 

[AaronCompNetSys]

Airwatch user here, member of work IT, with an iPhone, iPad, and Fascinate. Mine reports as compromised devices, and I already told them to wipe my device if it's really out of compliance and they have a problem with it. So far, jail broke and root happy still

 

[evcass69]

My employer is cancelling the BES server (and devices) and switching to a BYOD policy, including Airwatch. The i* device users are ready to be assimilated, but right now there challenges getting the agent on the Droids.

Our policy is that certain employee positions (including mine) are required to have access to a smartphone for e-mail access and/or on-call, and we are in a right to work state. So that means we either comply or risk losing our job. The employee is responsible for purchasing the phone, service & replacing damaged phones, and can turn in the billing summary page each month for up to $100 reimbursement.

The BB was the only smartphone I've had, and my Droid should arrive today. I can understand they want to secure devices which attach to the internal network but that doesn't make me feel any better about how the product integrates with the devices.

Will the agent install on the Droid if it's rooted? Can they prevent me from resetting the phone to remove the agent? And if I do that, will it just re-install if the device is configured in the Airwatch console?

 

[maddirk]

airwatch on S4 blocking USB Debugging

Guys,
I just received a new company Samsung Galaxy S4 and have Airwatch disabling the USB Debugging option, it's greyed out:crying:. Can't even root it now if I wanted to.
Such a shame, I have now two Galaxy S4s, what a b*&(9it to carry around.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
Cheers!

 

[pijo1971]

Airwatch and other email/calendar client

I actually work for Airwatch, If you own your phone and the company didnt supply it it doesnt matter if your phone is rooted or has a custom rom. its YOUR phone. Yea every week on the AW client it'll report compromised device but its your phone so your company cant say anything to you unless they provide you a phone.
just turn turn off a lot of access and tracking stuff with in the AW app as well

Hi,
recently also my company has adopted airwatch MDM to give us the access to email by phone.
I would like to know if there is a way to use a different email/calendar client instead the Airwatch Inbox client... I would like to have a client that offer the possibility top have a calendar with a widget.

cheers,
Luigi

 

[sagiporat]

Any updates on this?

I've tried:
RootCloak - downloaded from playstore, didn't work.
Also tried installing it from xposed, but there's an issue with galaxy phones, almost bricked mine.
There's also a thread someplace talking about editing the scripts of AW, but not all scripts are visible any longer.

Bottom line - doesn't work. Using SM-G925F. Any ideas?