Friday, 8 of September of 2006
How to avoid that our confidential information falls in bad hands
The Palm is not indeed cheap toys. So to be able to maintain a rate of updates, many users decide on the market of second hand, as much to remove a money by their present model, like obtaining the new one to a smaller price. Somebody that knows much of this is Serantes, that explains very useful knowledge to us that it has acquired during years.
But many users forget by the sight something fundamental: to erase the confidential data that the Palm contains. And he is that according to a recent study in many of these apparatuses of second hand data of banking accounts can be found, emails of the company, and many other data that would not have to fall in bad hands. The study consisted of choosing ten equipment at random available in eBay and investigating what information could be recovered of its flash memory, since the users usually do not worry to do hard reset before putting them for sale.
The result was near 27,000 pages of personal and corporative information, contained in nine of the ten equipment: banking personal information and of property, notes of commercial activities of company, data of contact, draft registration points of telephone made or visited pages Web, calendars… and on the other hand, also contained personal mail and of company, passwords of computer, medical information, and other personal or potentially dangerous data for the user.
It is easy to reclaim archives erased in a card SD
They comment that with the increasing popularity of the movable devices that store all our data, the possibility that somebody takes control of confidential information, or by robbery or a purchase of second hand, is increasing. So when we sell our equipment, we must remember to do simple hard reset, if we do not want that it knows it to the buyer everything exceeds we.
Since we spoke of the security of our data, we must remember that a buyer of second hand is not the unique one that can accede to them. We have to consider other possible scenes:
- In order to avoid that the same happens by a robbery, already we have spoken of programs that allows us to have our data of the bank, passwords and other information of value, encriptados, so that without our masterful password it is impossible to recover it. And also it was discussed at the time on the importance of choosing good passwords.
- A step further on is to form our Palm so that it is blocked whenever it goes out, and it needs a password to return to ignite. Something of course nothing comfortable, but that can be reduced to press a certain key (or two) when igniting the equipment, thanks to EasyLock. The program allows us to choose how many seconds we must to press this combination of keys, and even the image that will be while it hopes. If the pressed key is incorrect, the control goes to the standard program of blockade of the Palm, that will request the password to us of the system. EasyLock is of payment, but gratuitous for personal use. We can request our key of user registered in its page Web.
EasyLock blocks of simple way our PDA
- Finally, for the times that we must leave our Palm to another person, but we do not want that it looks around throughout, it exists Kiosk, a gratuitous utility whom the Palm in a certain program blocks, and does not allow to leave him if we do not know the password. As its own name indicates, `emulates the operation of the computers in way kiosco', that are those that gives to access to Internet in places public, and do not allow to use them for nothing else. We can install it as much as hack as IT GIVES (Desktop Accesory). By means of a sound it will inform whenever it blocks the launching of another program, and we even can do that deshabilite the shipment and reception by infrared while he is active. It is necessary nevertheless to consider, that has some limitations.
Limiting our Palm a single application
The security of our data is in our hands, it is only necessary to have a little common sense and responsibility.
By: generally
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Thanks nonwise that EasyLock was gratuitous, come me to the truth as ring to the finger already I had a bad experience with a lost TX so aprendi not to commit the same error this is better than to press the key each that I catch greetings.
This application is well for blocking the PDA, but it leaves to the air the security of the SD, that also contains data, among them backup's of the ram… I do not see this security in fact.
Greetings,
JCM
Good point. For that they are the backup programs of the ram that support encryption, like the NVBackup that so good result has given me in my E2.
thank you very much by another good article, it will prove the applications in my E2
It hears marks, sailing in freewarepalm, I was with a possible solution the problem that mention of the security in SD's; I have not proven it, and I do not know if you want to analyze it for possible “update” to this article, the direction of the utility is http://www.freewarepalm.com/utilities/diskmanager.shtml
Greetings!