Monday, September 9, 2002
Security on the Pocket PC - good or not?
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "ARTICLE" @ 07:00 AM
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1134871
Pocket PC 2002 devices got a boost in security features over the Pocket PC 2000. They center primarily around device access with a power on password, which also protects the data if you try to access it from a PC via an ActiveSync connection. But at least one Gartner analyst disagrees. "Analyst Gartner has slammed Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 handheld operating system (OS) as unsuitable for enterprise computing, warning that it lacks even basic security features."
There is room for improvement in the Pocket PC's security model, no question. There is room for improvement in every OS's security model. But "unsuitable for enterprise computing?" Come on! True, you cannot lock down a Pocket PC like you can a desktop yet, but does that make it unsuitable? Do you have any clue how many enterprises still use Win98/ME? Talk about unsecure. If you have the need for high security, you still have to tweak Win2K Pro/WinXP Pro to get that high level of security. With a Pocket PC you can get much of that security with third party addons.
The bottom line is the Pocket PC currently has one of the best, if not the best, security models around for a handheld. Set a password on your Pocket PC 2002 and do a soft reset. Now, put in the wrong password about 5-6 times. Pretty cool eh? I doubt anyone will be guessing your password before the contents are so obsolete as to be worthless.
Pocket PC 2002 devices got a boost in security features over the Pocket PC 2000. They center primarily around device access with a power on password, which also protects the data if you try to access it from a PC via an ActiveSync connection. But at least one Gartner analyst disagrees. "Analyst Gartner has slammed Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 handheld operating system (OS) as unsuitable for enterprise computing, warning that it lacks even basic security features."
There is room for improvement in the Pocket PC's security model, no question. There is room for improvement in every OS's security model. But "unsuitable for enterprise computing?" Come on! True, you cannot lock down a Pocket PC like you can a desktop yet, but does that make it unsuitable? Do you have any clue how many enterprises still use Win98/ME? Talk about unsecure. If you have the need for high security, you still have to tweak Win2K Pro/WinXP Pro to get that high level of security. With a Pocket PC you can get much of that security with third party addons.
The bottom line is the Pocket PC currently has one of the best, if not the best, security models around for a handheld. Set a password on your Pocket PC 2002 and do a soft reset. Now, put in the wrong password about 5-6 times. Pretty cool eh? I doubt anyone will be guessing your password before the contents are so obsolete as to be worthless.
