We have a requirement to Nuke the blackberry device prior to returning it for repair etc.

My questions are:

1: Can the Handheld configuration tool be installed on a standalone laptop or does it need some connectivity to the BES?

2: If it needs connectivity and the BES, SQL and BES Router are all behind a firewall, which ports will need to be opened?

Any clues appreciated.

What exactly do you mean when you say 'Nuke'?

Do you just want to delete the data? You can do that by using the wipe handheld function, or enable a password and then put in the password wrong 10 times.

Juwaack68, there is a difference between a Wipe and a Nuke. See below.


To Delete handheld application data.

1.Connect the handheld to the administration computer on which the Handheld Configuration Tool is installed.
2.In the Handheld Configuration Tool, in the left pane, click Ports.
3.In the Connection list, click a connection.
4.Click Wipe Handheld File System.
5.Click Yes.Note: A prompt alerts you to type the handheld password to complete the task.


To Make a handheld unavailable, and delete all applications and stored data.

1.Connect the handheld to the administration computer on which the Handheld Configuration Tool is installed.
2.In the Handheld Configuration Tool, in the left pane, click Ports.
3.In the Connection list, click a connection.
4.Click Nuke Handheld.5.Click Yes.
Note: To restore functionality to the handheld, in the left pane, in the Ports section, click Load Handheld.

Hey rm74, you can setup BlackBerry Manager on your laptop for remote administrator. Just run the setup.exe for BES installation and select "BlackBerry Manager". However, as BlackBerry Manager needs to connect to the SQL server when it is loaded, please make sure that the service account that you use on your laptop can actually have access to the SQL server. Also, enable TCP/IP and Named Pipe on your SQL server.

My questions are:

1: Can the Handheld configuration tool be installed on a standalone laptop or does it need some connectivity to the BES?

No its cannot be,only Blackberry Manger can be,needed to send a kill command.

2: If it needs connectivity and the BES, SQL and BES Router are all behind a firewall, which ports will need to be opened?
This question does not make any sense,can you re-word it.

At any rate Nuking a blackberry is an over kill anyways, I suggest using the "Security Wipe Option"
GO under Options> Security Click on the wheel and hit "Wipe Handheld"

No its not overkill, the wipe does very little as far as data is concerned. This can be a big security risk

A wipe will delete all data and overwrite it with 1's and 0's eight times before rebooting. Therefore it is very secure. However all applications and the IT policy are kept.

A nuke will completely kill the handheld OS including data, applications and IT policy but I'm not sure about the memeory overwrites etc

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A BlackBerry device wipe is designed to delete and overwrite the BlackBerry device memory using the following process:

1. The BlackBerry device sets a Device Under Attack flag in the NV store.
If a user removes the battery before the BlackBerry device data wipe ends, when the BlackBerry device power is restored (in other words, a user replaces the battery), the BlackBerry device wipe process continues because the Device Under Attack flag is still present.

2. If content protection of master encryption keys is turned on on the BlackBerry device, the BlackBerry device overwrites the copy of the grand master key in RAM with zeroes.

3. The BlackBerry device deletes its binding with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server by deleting the IT policy public key from the NV store.

4. If applicable, the BlackBerry device deletes the smart card binding information from the NV store.

5. The BlackBerry device radio turns off.

6. The BlackBerry device deletes data in the persistent store in flash memory, including references to the master encryption key.

7. The BlackBerry device overwrites flash memory with zeroes.

8. The BlackBerry device memory scrub process overwrites the BlackBerry device heap in RAM, changing the state of each bit four times. See “Memory scrub process for RAM” below for more information.

9. The BlackBerry device clears the BlackBerry device password from the NV store.

10. If content protection is turned on, the BlackBerry device memory scrub process overwrites the BlackBerry device flash memory file system, changing the state of each bit four times. See “Memory scrub process for flash memory” below for more information.

11. The BlackBerry device clears the Device Under Attack flag from the NV store.

12. The BlackBerry device restarts.
Memory scrub process for RAM
The BlackBerry device memory scrub process performs the following actions to overwrite the BlackBerry device heap in RAM:

1. Writes 0x33 to each byte (0011 00112).
2. Clears all bytes to 0x00 (0000 00002).
3. Writes 0xCC to each byte (1100 11002).
4. Clears all bytes to 0x00 (0000 00002).
5. Writes 0x55 to each byte (0101 01012).
6. Clears all bytes to 0x00 (0000 00002).
7. Writes 0xAA to each byte (1010 10102).
Memory scrub process for flash memory

If content protection is enabled, the BlackBerry device memory scrub process performs the following actions to overwrite the BlackBerry device flash memory during a BlackBerry device wipe:
1. Writes 0x33 to each byte (0011 00112).
2. Clears all bytes to 0xFF to each byte (1111 11112).
3. Writes 0xCC to each byte (0x1100 11002).
4. Clears all bytes to 0xFF (1111 11112).
5. Writes 0x55 to each byte (0x0101 01012).
6. Clears all bytes to 0xFF (1111 11112).
7. Writes 0xAA to each byte (0x1010 10102).
8. Clears all bytes to 0xFF (1111 11112).