Security on my PPC PE

[martin_ayton]

On my PC I have AV software, a fully stealthed firewall and anti-spyware software AND I hide behind an ISP firewall and a router firewall and NAT (paranoid or what?).

On my PPC I have precisely zilch. And yet the thing is often connected to the internet via GPRS and WiFi at hotspots. It gives me the jitters - particularly as, apart from ActiveSync, I really haven't grasped backing this thing up as yet. :crazyeyes:

What IYO is the best security set-up for a personal-use PPC? Good freeware would be best (of course), but I'll willingly pay for decent protection. :ninja:

[surur]

At the moment you have great security through obscurity. Be thankful for that :)

Some-one would have to intentionally target pocketpc's, as at the most basic level they are not binary compatible with x86.

Secondarily pocketpc's dont run many network services, but I guess if some-one discovers an activesync vulnerability we are up a creek without a paddle.

Surur

[Darius Wey]

Martin, have a read of this. (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36433) It may interest you. :D

We place a heavy reliance on Pocket PCs these days so added security measures are always worth considering. But read the article and hopefully you'll get some new ideas that you may not have thought of originally.

[martin_ayton]

Darius and Surur - thanks.

What a great forum: sensible, concise and understandable answers form those that have been there. I love it :)

It would appear that I am - currently - safer than I thought. I do not connect directly to my corporate network contenting myself with sync'ing with my laptop (which is connected to said network). That and the info. in the article would imply that I don't need a firewall but I might need some antivirus software. Given that the latter is not free, I would appreciate some views form the PPC Thoughts community as to how prevalent PPC viruses are or how likely it is that I might infect my PC with a virus 'carried' by my PPC. If it isn't very likely, then I'll stick without the AV and enjoy the PPC without the processor load that AV software imposes.

Cheers,

Martin.

[surur]

At the moment there is only one or two proof of concept ppc viruses, and none in the wild. Unless you expect to be the first to catch one, I would not worry. When a real one comes along I'm sure you will read about it here first.

If you are running a real-time virus scanner on your desktop I would also not worry about carrying a word virus from one computer to the other on your pocketpc, as it will be detected before it can run when you try and open it. Pocketword itself does not have scripting abilities, so no VB script virus will run from a word document on your pocketpc itself.

Surur

[martin_ayton]

Thanks Surur. I can relax and concetrate on a decent backup policy.

[Darius Wey]

I would appreciate some views form the PPC Thoughts community as to how prevalent PPC viruses are or how likely it is that I might infect my PC with a virus 'carried' by my PPC. If it isn't very likely, then I'll stick without the AV and enjoy the PPC without the processor load that AV software imposes.

The chances of cross-platform infection are near minimal, so rest assured that your Pocket PC is quite safe at the moment. If you're interested, the two active threats that currently exist for the Pocket PC are Duts and Brador. None of these are as invasive as the common viral threats you would encounter on the PC, as these viruses sort of "pop-in-your-face" asking you for permission to infect the device. A little stupid... ;)