02-28-2005, 04:30 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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California Secretary of State's PDA Stolen
"Outgoing Secretary of State Kevin Shelley told San Francisco police that his Glen Park home was burglarized over the weekend by someone who bypassed valuable property in favor of his state-issued handheld computer....Shelley's personal digital assistant device was said by employees to be one of his most prized possessions. He reportedly bragged to them so often about using it to raise $3 million in donations for his 2002 campaign for secretary of state that they came to dub it "the Palm Pilot speech."
Handheld security is no longer a joke, and if you're not careful you could be the next victim of information theft via your handheld -- not only via online mechanisms a la Sidekicks, but actual physical theft as well. Unfortunately, with PDA/Smartphones, it becomes clumsy to lock the device all the time. As a compromise, I use eWallet for any seriously private information and make sure to be obsessive about "patting down my pockets" and keeping my PDAs close to me. How do you protect yourself?
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02-28-2005, 04:50 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 181
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That's the kind of thing that makes me wish that the little fingerprint scanner that was on the iPAQ 5400/5500 series would become more popular on handhelds and smartphones. It is a small piece that can make such a difference.
I do not yet keep anything on my handheld that I would feel is a security risk...no passwords, credit card numbers, no email from the important address...I would really like to see better security on these things that is easier, and quicker to use. Even the 4 digit password is annoying to use every time I pick up the phone, so I often don't bother turning that on....
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02-28-2005, 05:03 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 6,305
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On my old 5555 I used the fingerprint scanner. Now that I have the 4705 I just use the 4 digit PIN. Still I have SD and CF cards and those can be removed.
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02-28-2005, 05:32 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 482
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always pat down my pockets. always.
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02-28-2005, 06:00 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,616
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I've never bothered with the fingerprint scanner on my iPaq 5550. Every time I consider it, I get this horrible image in my head of my fingerprints getting melted off and then I would no longer be able to use my beloved. I do use the password (in conjunction with Nice Start) and a password-protected FlexWallet file.
And I always do The Pat.
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iPhone 4! ☠☠☠ Mid-2010 15" MacBook Pro! ☠☠☠ Gateway LT2102h! ☠☠☠ Dell XPS M1210!
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02-28-2005, 06:14 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 51
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Pat Down
Ewallet, theft insurance, and pat pockets all the time for me
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02-28-2005, 06:27 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 102
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Hi Janak ! 
Well as Janak Said, this is no longer a joke, this is real, like everybody I am using ewallet on my Qetk9090, but what about my 500 contacts, my Calendar and all my business oriented notes or documents? The Finger print censor on my beloved 5555 was a neat feature and we should have this kind of stuff on any PDA or phones. We should also consider making SD really "Secure".
If I take my personal example, in Tokyo Japan we now got "emoney" built-in mobile phone, you put your phone next to a censor and you pay your stuff, some makers are adding to this features a finger print censors, but not all of them... Which is I think a quite dangerous stuff.
We do not really pay attention at this at first but think about it, we are daily wearing on US, a LOT of information, that can be used against us or our company if we are not more "responsible" or if maker do not start helping us in protecting us.
I am not paranoiac, but we must face the reality.
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02-28-2005, 06:45 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 359
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eWallet for financial data & passwords, and set a 1 hour lock with 4 digit passcode if unused for that period of time.
I'm sure in 7 years we'll see a technology where all we have to do is touch our handheld for security verification like the personal area network stuff coming soon.
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02-28-2005, 07:18 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 89
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A pocket pc that boasts alot of internal memory is actually part of my security measures. Since my JAM has 128mb internally...I can dump documents and other files internally and password protect the device.
Memory cards are an issue as Daimaou mentioned but I think that many people put things like music and movies on thier memory cards more than sensitive files. In the case of memory cards...a program to encrypt or password protect folders or files is what I think handhelds need to come with...as a standard feature and not a third party add-on.
I think actual theft notwithstanding..the most scary part for me is how pdas and cell phones are being joined so even more information is being stored now in a wireless unprotected device by many people. 
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02-28-2005, 12:14 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 51
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PDA Security for Me
I use the password and HP Tools encryption on my HP Ipaq 4705 and FlexWallet. The problem is getting the other 50 Ipaq users I adminstrate to consistently use FlexWallet Istill have but only use for testing purposes the Ipaq 5555. I really loved that fingerprint reader.
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MCSE +Security*and IBM Advanced Cerified Systems Administrator HP Ipaq 2795, HP*Compaq 6715b Notebook, Socket Bluetooth GPS
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Linear Mode
