[nicatnite303]

Does anyone know of a password alternative for the Blackberry? I am being pressed to remove passwords for individuals, but I feel that completely compromises data/email security. I wondered if anyone else gets this kind of push back from execs, and if so has anyone found an alternative?

[wibbly]

No. Execs should know better. If they don't want any security on the devices they don't think the data on them has any value.

Put their salaries on their BB's and they may get a different perspective

[nicatnite303]

I agree totally... But unfortunately I still needed to see if there was an alternative for them or not. No one likes passwords until they lose their handheld, get it stolen etc. Guess we'll just need to wait for that to happen.

[wibbly]

What would you/they want, in theory? Fingerprint recognition?

Maybe a compromise would be a weak (short) password policy with long timeouts before auto-locking. Better than nothing...

[nicatnite303]

Yeah. We are already there on the earier password thing. I eased up the strength and had it time out at 60 minutes. It sounds funny, but I think they were honestly wondering about alternatives like fingerprint, etc. It's an uphill battle for stuff like this but I at least try my best to give even the silly requests due diligence.

Least I can say I looked right?

[tobenning]

Originally Posted by nicatnite303

Does anyone know of a password alternative for the Blackberry? I am being pressed to remove passwords for individuals, but I feel that completely compromises data/email security. I wondered if anyone else gets this kind of push back from execs, and if so has anyone found an alternative?

Give them a password. They have the device, you have the password if they forget. There isn't much you can do with that password, if they have the device.

[JerryD]

Our company recently implemented passwords on BB's through IT Policy. It's a real pain - especially with 71xx users who can't figure out that the password "123456" they set on their device is "etudgj" using Desktop Manager - or any other program that interacts with the BB and a computer!

Anyway, I recently discovered that once a password requirement is sent out via IT Policy, the only (legit) way to get rid of it is for the BES to push a new policy. If you wipe the device, it asks for a new password when it finishes rebooting. There is a thread someplace here on how to manually change the IT policy, but it's a bear, AND if the password requirement is being pushed by IT Policy, it's just going to go back.

[omkhar]

Do said executives also have a problem with thier voicemail? PC's etc? Password lazyness is just apathy.

The "cadillac" solution would be to have a security policy that the executives sign off on like "All confidential data must be encrypted (I'd recommend 2-factor auth, but lets take it one step at a time)". Then, show them how the data on thier 'Berry must be protected in said manner.

Sounds more like your company has non existant/weak security policies.

[stonent]

With the BT enabled phones you can get a blackberry BT smart card that users wear. The device will not work unless it is within a few feet of the smart card necklace.

[stripesace]

Why do I really like that idea?

Yeah, id say give them something short. mine used to konk because it was on one side of the keyboard and could be typed easily. My brothers password on his berry, not soooo easy, but it is assigned from his IT dept.