How to secure your BlackBerry

By k | December 4th, 2007 | 15 Comments »
How to secure your BlackBerry

BlackBerry SecuredThe BlackBerry is mostly a device that carries a lot of confidential information. So we do not anyone else to get access to that information. If I imagine that my BlackBerry is lost or stolen and everyone can just access my address book and grab Mike‘s private phone number… You know what I mean.

It is crutial to our business to protect our data!

Below we will mention some procedures and methods to take care of your data and protect it from unauthorized access.

1. Device Passord

The first and most easiest way is to protect your BlackBerry is to enter a password for switching the BlackBerry on. Most of the time you will not need to enter this password as your BlackBerry is supposed to be “always on, always connected”. You can see a screenshot below on how to to so. You can set this up at “Options » Security Options » General Settings”.

Set a BlackBerry device password

2. Wipe Confidential Information In Case
EmergencyWipe for BlackBerryThis, of course, requires that you are doing backups of your BlackBerry regularily!

So if you come into a situation where your BlackBerry might go into hands you don’t want to get access to your confidential data you can just wipe out confidential information like tasks, contacts and calendar events. EmergencyWipe offer an easy and fast way to do so. It is always recommended to have this ability.

3. Content Encryption
The BlackBerry has advanced features to protect your confidential data. They are just deactivated by default. You enable the BlackBerry’s internal content encryption and so assure that your data is not saved in raw text on a device. Saving raw data on the device’s memory makes it very easy for crackers to read it once they obtained posession of your BlackBerry. You can set this up at “Options » Security Options » General Settings”:

BlackBerry Content Encryption

4. Password Encryption
BlackBerry Password KeeperThere is an already built-in password encryption / storage on your BlackBerry’s desktop called “Password Keeper”. It is a safe way to store passwords on your BlackBerry. You can only access this password store using a password you have set before. This is more secure way to store passwords than using MemoPad or EMails in your mailbox.

This is secure enough to store some passwords may be coded to a credit / atm card on the device. I would not write complete login data in there as it is always a good idea to be prepared if someone finally cracks the store.

5. SD-Card / Media Card Encryption
If you have installed a media card in your BlackBerry you might have also stored some data on it. In most cases your data is not that confidential as on the BlackBerry’s internal memory. Anyway, I don’t want other people to get access to the photos I took or the tracklogs I recorded (remember: those carry the locations where you went to). Alternatively, you can enable the encryption mode for your BlackBerry’s internal SD card to protect your data. This activation can be done at: “Options » Advanced Options » Media Card”. A screenshot of that settings screen can be found below.

BlackBerry Media Card Encryption

We hope this guide helps a bit in securing and protecting your data. If there is anything we forgot, please feel free to use the comment function.

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  • naughty BB user

    if u lose you device thief’s can still use ur BB.

    by simply wiping ur data and putting new sim phone and sms can be received no problem. email and internet can be blocked.

    after the security wipe the device will ask for the new password. once entered device software is just new as u brought them .

    is there any security software for blackberry that can lock the device for good until the correct password is entred.

    ur data will be safe but not the device itself it will have new owner .
    try on ur device wiping the data once u backup . and see if ur investment can be used by someone else.

    ur data will be safe not and ur device will have a new owner.

    bb needs security like nokia onces locked can not be unlocked.

    thanks

  • bob

    if u lose you device thief’s can still use ur BB.

    Thief’s? lmfao my god i feel like i’m in 2nd grade again

  • http://steve.cotse.net/blog/?p=48 …and around it goes » The OQO is back in play

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    [...] Encryption There is an already built-in password encryption / storage on your BlackBerry’s desktop called “Password Keeper”. It is a safe way to store passwords on your BlackBerry. You can only [...]

  • Tina

    Someone has a friend convinced that the Blackberry can not get a trace put on it (or tapped) – or lets say – the cops confiscate your Blackberry, well, apparently, there’s no way they (or any professional) can see the text messages you sent/received, even if you deleted them because its “encrypted”. How true is this?

  • Karl Taylor

    Hi, I am currently researching the performance impact of enabling SD card encryption on a Blackberry Perl 8110 and Bold 9000. Please can you explain to me how performance is impacted and if any speed hinderance is incurred ASAP?

    Thanks!

  • sham

    hi

    i did SD-Card / Media Card Encryption, but no use it still can access without giving password, and when i connect to desktop using a card reader it is accessible without password. what a heck this is …

    stupid blackberry 8820

    any one plz help me…

  • cipher sequence

    No data is every permanently deleted from any hard drive.

    When a file is deleted, the file descriptor is simply unlinked and that sector of diskspace is marked as available. The file is still on the physical disk, however the end user cannot access it.

    After a file is deleted, and if the portion of disk where the file was written has been unlinked and marked as available free space is written to again, the data still is NOT gone or deleted due to the magnetic physics of the disc platter. (the medium where the data is written to).

    Think of it like an etch-a-sketch. You write designs in the etch-a-sketch and then flip it over, shake it around to erase it. When you flip it back over you can still see the outline of the design you made. You draw another design, flip it over to erase, and when you look you can now see both designs, however one less distinguishable than the other.

    The only sure way to destroy data on a disc drive is to burn it.

  • Tommaso

    I’m interested in encrypting micro sd card content.
    I’ve red that I can enable the encryption mode for my BlackBerry’s internal SD card to protect my data.
    Questions:
    1- have I to enter a password each time I want to access sd?
    2- encryption take effect in file transferred to BB as external disk from pc?
    3-In case of BB stolen, it’s possible to decript and read sd content?
    Thanks for patience.
    Best regards
    Tommaso

  • bisbes

    BIS is not safe!

    The security details of the Blackberry Internet Service (their consumer/mobile company service) are documented on their website, which states: “E-mail messages that are sent between the BlackBerry Internet Service and your BlackBerry device are not encrypted.”

    https://cpj.org/blog/2010/08/why-governments-dont-need-to-crack-the-blackberry.php

  • rcmichelle

    Last time I forgot my password and tried everything i could do but failed, until I found this great tool Password Genius. It works great, and you can google it.

  • http://www.credit.com/blog/2010/09/mobile-banking-redux/ Mobile Banking Redux

    [...] have enough power to run encryption software. If you have a BlackBerry, learn how to secure it here. iPhone users click [...]

  • http://techinux.com/index.php/2004/08/the-power-users-blackberry-guide-121-crackberry-tips-hacks-and-resources/ The Power User’s BlackBerry Guide: 121 CrackBerry Tips, Hacks and Resources | Techi Nux

    [...] How to Secure Your BlackBerry: Keep your data safe by following the tips in this guide. [...]

  • http://www.cellphonespyreviews.net Cell Phone Spy

    I am totally agree with the cementer above me. I am using a third party app for back-up. Is it ok if you we use any third party data backup app to save the data?




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