There are two different categories of root.
So if we look at the one on the left-hand side,
we have Shell, Temporary, or Soft.
This is typically what the vendors call their rooting.
All of them will use different terminology.
It is temporary access that gives you
privilege, privileged examination, or privilege
escalation to the linked shell.
It is not permanent.
So what this means is, if I temporarily
root this device to get an acquisition of it,
when I reboot that phone after the acquisition,
the route goes away.
However, the traces will always exist.
Every contact leaves a trace, so keep that in mind.
Now, where this could go wrong--
if I tell my tool that this is a Pixel,
and, instead, it's a Samsung device, but I just
choose Pixel.
If it tries to root it with a root that
would work for a Pixel versus a root that
would work for a Samsung, things can go drastically wrong.
Be very careful with that.
For the full root here, a full root
is what people do when they download a root in the wild.
This is what the user did in Lab 1.4.
She went out to the internet, downloaded a root,
installed it, and had full root access.
On modern devices, full roots will often
result in losing some form of data.
So you have to keep that in mind.
Now, this is where you have to think about this.
If you are in a situation forensically
where you've gotten everything you can from that device,
and you're not getting what you need,
is rooting it worth knowing that you're
going to lose a little bit of information?
I would say, yes.
Many forensic examiners would say, yes.
Some would say, absolutely not.
I can't make any changes.
This is where you have to decide what
makes the most sense for you.
What I would recommend is, if possible,
get an exact model of that device and attempt to root it,
and see what you actually lose.
Reach out to the community.
See if anyone has tried this.
But know every single Android could be different.
A simple firmware revision can make all the changes.
If you are willing to do a full root,
you are willing to lose everything.
It is at that point.
It is more common to brick a device.
Even supported roots could damage your device.
I have some examples in this course
where I show screenshots of a root
and that I was having success.
The next day, the phone wouldn't turn on anymore.
If you successfully root it, acquire it immediately.
It's not only hot, but it's super hot.
That device is on fire.
Immediately acquired it to make sure you're not
losing any information.
These roots are considered permanent,
but you may find that certain things can
cause you to lose root.
It's so frustrating when you successfully root your device,
and you're like, where'd the root go?
I lost it.
Use caution with it.
Also, something else I want to mention--
in the notes of this page, you're
going to find a site that we recommend
for gaining root access.
Depending on your firewalls or your restrictions
on your computer, it may be blocked.
Also, I cannot guarantee that you can't get anything
malicious in nature from that site.
So please just use caution when downloading roots
and know it's your last step when we're
getting to this information.