Quick Tips & Handheld PC Tricks
Security and the
Handheld PC
Tips and hints on keeping
your H/PC and its data safe and secure; from the Windows CE Forum on Computing Central
(The Microsoft Network)
By Todd Ogasawara
The great thing
about Handheld and Palm-size PCs is that because they are small and very portable, you can
keep important data with you at all times. Unfortunately, this portability makes them
easier to drop and damage, to misplace, or to have stolen. If this happens, you may lose
valuable data, or worse -- have it fall into the wrong hands. Below is some advice on how
to protect your PC Companion, and more importantly, how to protect the data on it.
Physical Security
If your H/PC or Palm PC easily slips into your pocket, it can easily slip out ¡ when
you bend over to pick up something, when you sit down at a restaurant, when you get into a
taxicab. You can leave it on your desk in a crowded office, go to lunch, come back and
find it missing. You can pull it out, check on a phone number, make the call from a phone
booth, and walk away from the phone booth and the Palm PC. In a crowded shopping center a
skilled pickpocket can lift your wallet or H/PC without you even noticing it. Here are
some tips to help avoid these unfortunate scenarios.
 | Keep it with you all the time in a secure place. Most first generation H/PCs and some
second generation H/PCs will fit in a man's coat or pants pocket, or a woman's purse. An
H/PC can easily slip out of pants pockets when you sit down. You might want carry it in
your inside coat pocket. If it's too snug there, get a carrying case with a shoulder strap
or belt strap. Many padded carrying cases designed for cameras work as well as one
specially designed for the H/PC. Recently, I ran into the problem of finding a carrying
case for my new NEC MobilePro 700 (a mini-notebook form factor Windows CE 2.0 H/PC). None
of the current H/PC or mini-notebook (Toshiba Libretto form factor) carrying cases fit the
NEC. Fortunately, I found an Eagle Creek padded case (www.eaglecreek.com).
It is designed to hold a video camera that fits the width of the NEC perfectly. In
addition, it has a number of pockets to hold cables, spare batteries, and pens. |
| In your office or cubicle, you might also want to lock your H/PC in a drawer when you
get up to go somewhere. It is probably better to carry it with you, get it out when you
need it, and put it back in your pocket or purse. |
| Be consistent about where you keep your H/PC. When you're on the go, keep it in the same
pocket; at the office, keep it in your pocket, in the data cradle, or locked in your
drawer; at home leave it on the desk in your study or the nightstand by your bed.
Consistency is the key. As soon as you start leaving your H/PC in unusual places, you'll
forget where it is and walk away from it. |
| Don't leave it around on desktops, restaurant tables, or any unusual places. |
| Write down your system's serial number and store it in a safe place (a safe deposit box
and/or money belt, for example). This will help you identify your system if it is
recovered after theft or misplacement. |
| Make sure you have your name and phone number in the owner screen or tape a business
card to the back of your H/PC or Palm PC. The words "$100 reward if returned
to..." may help motivate people who find your H/PC to give you a call (see Screens
below). |
| This one may be overkill. The Masterlock cable lock for notebook computers comes with a
small postage stamp sized securing block. You could use this securing block and a cable
with your H/PC. The HP 620LX has a built-in latching area for the Masterlock cable lock.
You can find it by looking at the left rear area of your HP 620LX. However, it can be a
challenge to find an object to secure the cable to though. |
Screen 1: The Owner Properties setup screen is
accessed from the Owner icon in the Control Panel. Fill in your contact information
and make sure the Display Owner Identifaction box is checked.
Screen 2: Select the Notes tab from the Owners
Properties screen and fill in the desired reward information (or other message). It
works best if you use the spacebar to center the message in the text box. Make sure
you check the box labeled Display Owner Notes at Power On.
Screen 3: Whenever you (or someone who finds your
H/PC) presses the power On button, the contact and reward information is displayed.
Data Security
Far more valuable than the hardware you carry in your pocket is the data on it. If you
damage or lose your H/PC, you can always plunk down some money and buy another one. That
is not always the case with vital information. In addition, some of the information on
your computer is for your eyes only (credit card numbers, PIN numbers, notes about
important clients -- all sorts of things).
All the advice about physical security applies in this section. But data theft can
occur without loosing your H/PC and without you knowing it. Someone can see important data
on your screen or copy it over from your H/PC via infrared beaming or other methods. In
addition, you can accidentally lose confidential or other data due to a variety of
non-malicious causes, including battery failure (both main and backup batteries) or a
software error that damages the file and data. You might even incorrectly enter a person's
phone number or address. Here are a few ideas to you help you keep your data safe.
| Both Windows CE 1.0 and Windows CE 2.0 let you set a power-on password. Whenever anyone
presses the ON button, they must enter a password to access the system (from the Start
menu select Settings/Control Panel/Password). Screen 3 above shows the
Power On password box in the upper right of the screen below the date and time. |
| Windows CE 2.0 adds password protection for individual Pocket Word and Pocket Excel
files (from Pocket Word select File/Password). Screen 4 shows the
Password dialog box that pops up when you try to open a password-protected document. The
trick is to remember the password you assign to each file. You may want to write them down
and keep them somewhere safe or you may want to use the same password for all files. |
| Intelliant's DocSafe (www.intelliant.com)
password protects any file and works on your H/PC as well as your desktop or notebook PC (see Screen 6). |
| My favorite Windows CE application for the past few months has been eWallet from Ilium
Software (www.ilium.com). This application stores
confidential data (passwords, PINs, credit card information, etc.) using a 40-bit
encryption method. You access eWallet using a single password. eWallet displays your
confidential data in a tree structure hierarchy (see screen 7), making
it easy to navigate and use. It comes with a number of preset formats (credit card,
calling card, etc.) as well as a free form card format. eWallet will automatically close
down if left idle for a preset period, making it difficult to accidentally leave important
information open on your H/PC. I use this great little application at least a couple of
times each week. |
| Both Windows CE 1.0 and 2.0 let you synchronize your contact list, calendar, and task
list with Microsoft Outlook or Schedule+ on your desktop PC. In addition, you can backup
important files to your desktop PC. You should strongly consider backing up the two main
Outlook files on your desktop PC's hard disk to some removable medium (disk or tape). The
two files you want to find are most likely named mailbox.pst and mailbox.pab. The
mailbox.pst file can be quite large if you tend to keep a lot of e-mail. You will have to
close down any software that accesses these files (Outlook itself, or WinFAX Pro 8.0's
Operator). |
| The Hewlett-Packard's 320LX, 360LX, and 620LX all have a bonus Control Panel application
that lets you backup Information Manager (Calendar, Contacts, Tasks) and InBox data to a
CompactFlash RAM card for safety. This lets you backup and restore without having to dock
with a desktop or notebook PC. |
| dbFlash software (see Screen 8) can be used on any H/PC to perform a
function similar to the Hewlett-Packard utility described above. (dbFlash is from Anyware
Consulting, found at members.aol.com/anyware/wce/). |
| All H/PCs allow you to perform a complete system backup to a desktop or notebook PC
using Windows CE Services (Screen 5). You should do this on a regular
basis, but be aware that if you have to restore from this backup, you restore the complete
system -- you can't pick and choose files to restore. |
| HPCVault (see Screen 9) extends Windows CE 1.0 and 2.0's
backup/restore capability and allows you to restore specific files to either your H/PC or
your desktop (HPCVault is from Anyware Consulting). |
| Almost all H/PCs support some kind of additional non-volatile storage cards (PC Card,
CompactFlash, or Velo's proprietary memory cards). These cards are a great way to extend
your H/PC's storage capabilities (more maps, information, text files, etc.), but they tend
to have slower access times than your system RAM. A 15 or 16MB card now costs under $200
U.S. While more expensive than adding 16MB to your desktop PC, it is a relatively
inexpensive way to add additional storage memory to your H/PC. These cards also provide a
great backup medium when you are on the road. But if you use them to back up you data,
you'll want to remove the card from the H/PC afterward and keep it somewhere else. If you
keep it in the H/PC, and lose the H/PC, you lose the card and your backup. |
Screen 4: In addition to system-wide password
protection, you can password protect individual Pocket Word and Pocket Excel
documents. Select the Password option from the File menu. Whenever you try to
open the document you will get this screen, requesting password.
Screen 5: Protect your H/PC data by backing it up
regularly. Connect the H/PC to your desktop PC and activate Windows CE
Services. Then, from the Mobile Devices screen select the Back Up Now option from
the Tools Menu.
Screen 6: DocSafe lets you password protect any
file and works on your H/PC as well as your desktop or notebook PC.
Screen 7: eWallet stores confidential data
(passwords, PIN's, credit card information, etc.) and lets you access it using a single
password. eWallet displays a list of your confidential data in a tree structure
hierarchy (right side of screen) and the complete information of the selected item on the
left.
Screen 8: dbFlash lets you backup Calendar,
Contacts, Tasks and InBox to a CompactFlash RAM card. This lets you backup and
restore without having to dock with a desktop or notebook PC.
Screen 9: HPCVault operates from your desktop PC
and lets you backup and restore specific files.
That's it! You have just read what I hope is a useful collection of hints and tips to
help you protect your H/PC and its data. It is, however, not an exhaustive list. Please
add your hints and tips on my WindowsCE. Tips_FAQs newsgroup. |
