Tuesday, October 1, 2002
High encryption pack for Pocket PC? Not so fast....
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "SOFTWARE" @ 10:00 AM
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?releaseid=42456
This page contains a software update for your Pocket PC that will give it 128bit encryption for using within Pocket Internet Explorer or may be used by third party software that taps into the Crypto API. But do you need it? Maybe. There is another link from the PocketPC.com site that links to the same file, though the download link is a bit different. I downloaded both and ran them through a binary file checker. Same file.
So, what is this for? Well, Pocket PC 2000 devices shipped with 40bit encryption, so if you have not installed Service Pack 1 for your Pocket PC 2000 device, like the Jornada 52x, 54x, Casio E-1x5 or a non-upgraded iPAQ 3100/3600, you may want this download. SP1 includes it. Non-upgraded iPAQ users don't need it if they are running ROM 1.69 or higher. Compaq included SP1 in the ROM image. Soft-reset your iPAQ and watch the ROM number when it boots to see what ROM image you have.
I think you also need it if you have a Toshiba e740. For some reason, Toshiba seems to have shipped the e740 with 40bit encryption which you should never use for sensitive information like a credit card number. I don't know about the e310. For everyone else with Pocket PC 2002 devices though, this is not necessary. I've heard people installing it with no problems, so I don't think it will hurt, but it takes up RAM. Thanks to Rick Gomez for the link.
This page contains a software update for your Pocket PC that will give it 128bit encryption for using within Pocket Internet Explorer or may be used by third party software that taps into the Crypto API. But do you need it? Maybe. There is another link from the PocketPC.com site that links to the same file, though the download link is a bit different. I downloaded both and ran them through a binary file checker. Same file.
So, what is this for? Well, Pocket PC 2000 devices shipped with 40bit encryption, so if you have not installed Service Pack 1 for your Pocket PC 2000 device, like the Jornada 52x, 54x, Casio E-1x5 or a non-upgraded iPAQ 3100/3600, you may want this download. SP1 includes it. Non-upgraded iPAQ users don't need it if they are running ROM 1.69 or higher. Compaq included SP1 in the ROM image. Soft-reset your iPAQ and watch the ROM number when it boots to see what ROM image you have.
I think you also need it if you have a Toshiba e740. For some reason, Toshiba seems to have shipped the e740 with 40bit encryption which you should never use for sensitive information like a credit card number. I don't know about the e310. For everyone else with Pocket PC 2002 devices though, this is not necessary. I've heard people installing it with no problems, so I don't think it will hurt, but it takes up RAM. Thanks to Rick Gomez for the link.
