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October 11, 2005
Palm Security
If you're planning on synching ANY sensitive data to your Palm handheld, then I would suggest marking it as private, in case your Palm ever falls into curious hands.
I'm on a Treo 650, so getting to this might be slightly different for you, but here's the general idea:
- Go to Applications (the home button)- Tap on Security (for older Palms, this might be under Prefs/Security)
- Assign a password. As someone suggested to me, don't make it too guessable (don't use your home street, birthday, your name followed by a "1" etc.) But given you'll be entering this on your Palm fairly often, don't make it too hard to enter either.
- Under current privacy, select Show Records, Mask Records or Hide Records. Show Records means whether a record is marked private or not, it will show up in the list for anyone to view. Mask Records (the one I keep it on) means a bar will appear through the subject line so I know something is there, but I need to enter the password I assigned to view the text. Hide Records means you won't even know the record is there unless you change the preference for all records back to Show or Mask.
For records to be affected by security, you need to check them as Private. If you open any Contact, Calendar Entry, Task or Memo, you will find the Private checkbox under Details.
You can open individual items marked Private, enter your password, and view just that record. Once you close that item it will return back to the previous security. Or, you can change the security for all records by going back to Applications, Security and changing it for all records. If you change it to Show Records, just remember to change it back to Hide or Mask, since it won't do this automatically if you've changed it for all records.
I've tried the Turn Off and Lock feature you'll see under Security, but found it so cumbersome to have to enter a password every time I turned my Palm on.
I hope this helps.
Posted by Kelly at October 11, 2005 04:19 PM
Comments
Hi Kelly,
'found it so cumbersome to have to enter a password every time I turned my Palm on.'
As a longime Palm user, I've found that OnlyMe from Tranzoa.com is an excellent security app that marries convenience with security. Instead of having to write a password every time your Palm powers down, you type on a finger sized numerical keypad. It's quick, it automatically hides private entries and if people try to guess the password wrongly it gradually adds a longer time delay before allowing a retry. It makes me feel much happier having confidential info in my palm.
(Disclaimer) I have no links to Tranzoa, other than a satisfied user.
Posted by: Alastair J at October 12, 2005 03:15 AM
Thanks Alastair. I forgot about that app. I used it at one point but lost track of it since moving to my new Treo. Thanks for the reminder.
Posted by: Kelly at October 20, 2005 03:17 PM
