How Do You Use Your BlackBerry Series: Password Protection on Your Device

A security wipe after the maximum amount of password attempts is necessary so that someone can't hook up your phone to Desktop Manager, set it on autopilot, and force millions of attempts. BlackBerry security is about protecting the data stored on the phone, not about protecting the phone.

people saying they're worried family/friends will try too many times and wipe the device make me laugh. what kind of scumbag family and friends do you have that would try to bruteforce your password. sounds to me these kinda people you shouldn't set your phone, wallet or anything valuable around.... maybe best to completely avoid them.

i adore the fact no one can get at my info.

I get it about wiping the device after too many tries, and I back up my phone every day. Makes sense. What I don't get is that if entering the correct password is so important, why aren't you given the option to see the password you are typing when you first enter it, just to make sure, especially if you are using a alphanumeric password? I want to secure my device, but I don't want it to be wiped...AGAIN! (Sorry, I have had a bad experience) :)

Seriously,

It just makes it easier for someone to steal your phone. Within seconds they can be calling any 1-900 number they want, let alone your data.

And if you think that BlackBerry has secure settings -think of this. The first thing I did within hours of my phone, is create a full image backup to my PC and force-change a bunch of settings. All the while being password protected.

Its full of holes.

And why not have GPS tracking built in for stolen phones? Or disabling them by Mac address throuhg the system - which they say they do but they really dont.

Oh it makes me so mad. So even with third-party GPS tracking software - someone wipes your phone in seconds and it is gone. Way to go, and I love people who say how 'secure' blackberry is.

Please - leaving your house unlocked and the door open is not secure, no one wants to steal your facebook contacts. They want your 700 dollar phone.

Becareful remember your password! first month i had storm I didnt write down the password. After ten trys erase my hard drive.I had to pickup a replacement.

I read some of the messages and wanted to reply..
First to Propa...You have some pretty insecure females hanging out with you if they are attempting to gain access to your BB or maybe they have good cause...
I have used the password before with a previous BB and I did have the unfortunate experience of wiping tears off my Curve as it wiped itself. But if you have sensitive information on it it's a good feature.
To devGOD.. yes 60% of us don't use it but when that 60% lose their phones and have information compromised then you'll see the percentages change. I use my BB for work and personal and I have very sensitive material coming over mine. My wife has two, her personal and her work and her work phone has sensitive info on it.
If you have one of many personal assistant apps or a finance app on your phone I'd suggest using a password. Identity theft is a HUGE issue and very expensive and time consuming to recover from.

I used one for a few days on my 8330. Haven't lost a phone since I was 15, and definitely not starting with my Crackberry. I was going to try it again b/c "what if" is always a possibility, but I really don't see it being needed.

This is for slightly educated to super educated users on Crackberry.com, you have to guess that most users of blackberry don't go to websites dedicated to the device, and thus, even more people do not password protect their device. I talked to a lady during election time a few years ago and she was shocked that I told her that, and then even said, so THAT's what IT was talking about.

Quick question. I don't use holsters or the magnet pouch. I simply press the power button to perform the keyboard lock. Any way to get the password screen to come up after pressing the power button again to unlock the screen?

It appears the device only demands a password when I take it out of the pouch, but not when I unlock the keyboard. Seems like an obvious mode to also protect.

Ideas?

If you care about security or your privacy you better use password lock, I use the keyboard lock in my pocket and when i'm around my berry but i have it set to password lock after a half hour and i have password lock on my homescreen, second the cops pull you over hit password lock, now your phone is safe, "sure officer you'd liek to see my blackberry? go ahead bahahaha" once i have everything set up on my berry, os , theme, apps, contactsm i back it up and encrypt it then put the file on all my computers and thumb drives, i even have an emergency thumbdrive in my backpack with linux berry boot, an app my buddy wrote that strictly loads desktop manager via usb on any computer then i can restore from the usb backup file. blackberry's aren't toys they are secure messeging devices, if you want to let your kid play with your berry get an ibone

With my old phone, at work I would notice that it would be moved or placed differently from where I set it.(cell phone usage is not allowed at work, so you have to be kinda covert with it) So I figured I have some very real nice coworkers, looking at what I had been doing with it . So It was one of the first things I did when I got my berry. 10min lockout works very well for me,also bebuzz does too. :) don't even have to unlock it to see what came in.http://www.electronicswholesaledistributor.com/

60% don't lock? That's amazing! That seems to be just about the same percentage as those who can't seem to keep their computers free of viruses or spam out of their inboxes, and it's just about the same percentage of drivers who don't belong on the road. Coincidence? People that understand data mining, identity theft and how easy it is to get more info once you find a little (while apparently in the minority) are far more worried about that stuff than they are about the few minutes it takes to restore a backup. My phone locks after 30 seconds and wipes after 5 incorrect password attempts. I just wish I could be sure everyone who stores my info would extend me the same courtesy.

I always use password protection. the device wipe feature after n tries gives me peace of mind. If my device is lost or stolen I know that my personal info, data and pictures won't end up on the wrong hands.

cannot remember my password, and don't know how to reset it.
8330
Help!

I always lock my phone with a code. The main reason is because I have so much private information on the phone. I do have options I could wipe the phone if lost but I may not realize it soon enough. It just makes me feel better to lock. I also work in a cell phone store and I have plenty of customers who have lost their phones that wish they would have locked them.

I can't be bothered entering a code every time I pick up my crackberry.

I have my phone set to a 30 minute lock...and also when it is restarted. I also have a message that pops up when my phone is locked, that says "GPS is Enabled!If found, please call 816-XXX-XXXX". I think this would "thwart" any would be thief, letting them know that I can track my phone to their location! I have "PhoneBasics" installed, and call lock/find my phone remotely - even when it is powered off - I will get an email with a link to Google Maps telling me exactly where my phone is!

I might use a pw if the phone didn't auto-lock after only a couple of hours and demand a non-repeating pw of a certain length. I need minimum to no security, so the excessive pw security is a burden to my life.

I don't use a lock, not because of the wipe feature; which also scares me now (I didn't know it existed) but rather the emergency call screen. I always think that ill accidently press it in my pocket so I refuse to use it. They should have you have to press the unlock code to even bring up the screen to put in a password or use the emergency call(*callbutton), in my opinion at least. Anyway; that's why I don't use it.

I can't be bothered with stinking passwords just to unlock the thing - No way. My Berry is either in my pocket, hand, kids hands, or nightstand. I'll never lose it. A true Crackberry head will never let the crack out of their sight!

I never password protect my BB tour 9630. It's such a pain. However, I do have an application installed on it that I can activate, from any PC to lock and wipe it clean if its lost/stolen.

The only one reason for me is security...

I never used it and after reading the comments here I decided to set it up

The features like all BB stuff is in depth amazing.

I have so much going on with my phone and though I use programs like Splash ID, I simply don't want anyone knowing my business.

Love the site by the way. Makes my BB experience so much better

Hell yea I use a password, I don't need anyone not authorized to see my phone to look through anything they want. And not only that, I bought iLock recently where I can lock individual applications so I can give my phone to my friends to play games or whatever and know they're not snooping through my e-mail, BBM, or SMS. If you haven't heard of it check it out, works awesome

My BB came to me in need of TLC and a new T-Ball so I don't have a password YET.....
When I muster up the nerve to upgrade the OS, and if it still works after, I'll set a password

I lost my phone once and its a dreadful experience for me! With Blackberry u can set how many times of wrongly key in password then only the data is wipe out. Why would anyone tried nearly 10 times? Unless he a thief.

I use a password do to the fact that I keep very sensitive corporate data on my BB. I did for get the password one day right before a meeting tho and it sucked cause it wiped! Lesson Learned, Don't forget it! I put a password back on soon as it booted back up!

i use password protect and have my phone lock after 2 minutes because I have important information that I don't want in the wrong hands on my blackberry BUT have you noticed that if you set the max tries to 10 and lose your blackberry, if someone tries to crack your password and cant after the 10 tries it just gives them a prompt to wipe the phone which is nice to keep your information out of the wrong hands but this means they can keep your blackberry and be a sim card switch away from using it

I put a password on mine, but the inactive time-out is set to kick-in after an hour of non-use. The password is more for protection when I'm away from my BB ie at the dinner table, working out, etc otherwise my BB is usually never more than a few feet away from me.

its pretty important to hve great security over this BB and d idea to wipe off all data when there's an attempt to forced entry by unauthorised person must also a must-have-apps.. in my opinion i wud suggest the Lock function is must-have, Pwd Protection is must-have, counting xs fr wrong pwd attempt a must-have and definete wipe-off a must-have.. but subject to addn feautures such as when someone try to break into yr BB, perhaps the last 3 attempt it cud be sending a very-loud alarm-triggering sound from yr BB and on d last wrong attempt d BB could reboot simultaneously, and fr certain minimum tryout then it'll wipe off data but stil to locked it tho'.. maybe RIM cud add-value by thinkin best possible thingy compare to othr smartphone (and to allow pwd func fr folders too in future..) amen'

I started using a password on my new Curve after I saw the interview Scott Ttzke. I guess I'm a sheep...:o)

Patternlock is a cool app that locks your BB and you use a pattern to unlock it rather than remembering a password but the best part of all .. like some other users said .. it has unlimited tries and a little alarm sounds when someone gets it wrong

I had a password set on my BB a while ago before i knew about backing up and a little cousin was snooping and wiped out my BB .. i CRIED. even if you back it up .. it getting wiped is still a pain in the a$$ and you have to re-purchase most apps. So backing up solves .. not a lot as a way to be pro-password

Patternlock is the best ever and i love it. I can be distracted and drag the wrong pattern and not freak out and worry about it cause i have ___ more tries before my BB explodes. Much better than password. PLUS you can set it so that every time the pattern is put in wrong .. a little alarm sounds LOL. Then i rush over and snatch my poor BB from the clutches of whatever evil person is trying to crack it

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I use PW protect coz I have 8 e-mail addresses that can be easily accessed, programs installed that run automatically (with log-in codes), contacts that need to stay confidential, and social network sites that auto-login when launched (therefore has access to manipulate settings and files.) I like the security of knowing if my BB gets stolen or if I lost my BB that no one has access to any of my personal info. I also set it to wipe after 3 failed tries (not the defualt 10). I'm not one to share my phone so I don't worry about friends or family that just grab it when they want to use it and accidentally send it to wipe..like how some users here have commented. My phone is backed up regularly so I don't worry about losing anything after a wipe. I used to think at first how inconvenient to unlock my phone all the time, but that out weighs the stress of having to re-secure all my personal sites and accounts when I discover I have lost my phone...and to get it done before anyone does damage or identity theft.

I lock mine to keep curious george out of my personal things.

I don't know why ppl are complaining about "forced" passwords, unless thats something on the BES side of things?
I password lock my BB when I'm outside or riding just incase I drop/leave it somewhere and when I'm home I usually disable it. Its really not that hard to go into Options and Disable/Enable password lock when needed to...

We require at least a 4 character password at work. We do recommend people choose a easy to type, easy to remember password. We do have it set so users can change the timeout to up to 8 hours. And seriously, if you cannot remember your own password, you have bigger problems.

As for the device being wiped if you enter the wrong password too many times, the only time I see this being a problem is if you have "friends" that don't like you. As I said, if you can't remember your password, you have problems. It's safe to assume that if someone enters the wrong password 10 times, then that person is not the owner of the device, and should not have access to any of the owners information.

All that said, if I was not on a BES, I probably would opt to not use a password.

I use a password. I have an email address on my lockscreen that a good samaritan can use to notify me if they have found my device. If they are not a good samaritan I would much rather have it wiped than them have all my information.

It's a corporate policy where I work.

Too much private info on the phone and with apps like facebook that auto log you in: you could be at a party, someone could pick up your phone, log into your FB account and start posting lies!

CeluGeek is right, I don't get how forcing a password upon people is helpful in any way at all. The only reason I use it is because I can't lock my keyboard if I don't, which is possibly the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. How hard is it to keep the option of enabling the user to lock his device without using a password? I don't see how RIM has anything to do with how I wish to use my device.

I star ussing the password from today with 1 hour time only

I can't even find an option on my BB to enable a password....

I do. I'm afraid it will fall out somewhere by accident. It only has to happen once!

The main reason BlackBerry's password-protection is there (for non-BES users) is to annoy you as a user. You want to password-protect your device? Then get ready to put up with forced automatic lockups ever hour (if not earlier), even when you are at home with little to no risk of your device getting stolen.

And speaking of your device getting stolen... How about handing your pricey SIM-enabled device on a silver platter to anyone who steals it and types the wrong password 10 times? Oh sure, you can report it stolen and the data functionality will be disabled but as you may have realized by reading on CB forums and other websites, there's still people who would gladly use a BlackBerry just for calls, text and PIM functionality, so disabling BIS/BES doesn't render you Berry useless.

So yes, there's some benefit in protecting information you enter or sync to the PIM but RIM still needs to learn how to implement password-protection in a way more useful and friendlier to the consumer. Is it really that hard to provide an option for no auto-locking, or at least extending it to every eight hours or some other less annoying timeframe? Is it really that hard for RIM to leave the device locked regardless of wrong password retries and then provide some model-specific hard to press key combination to do a hard reset for those users who forget their password?

In short RIM, stop the bureaucracy of forced auto-locking and stop making my device so easily reusable to thieves!

I'm sorry but what business does anyone have tryin to unlock ur phone anyways? I would be kickin they're behind up and down the street for even attempting to crack my password. Its set for a reason and any smart respectful person should know that. Don't blame Blackberry for havin bum friends and nosey family when your phone gets wiped. And just in case I can't escape stupid people. Backing up your data is two clicks too easy. It only takes a couple minutes.

The Password software on  wipes my memory. Even on OS 5.0. Someone PM me a link to a good password software

I have mine set to lock after 30 minutes of no use and it sets the password when it locks. I don't want anyone to be able to get into my phone.

I absolutely use a password. I keep important account passwords on my device so I do not want anyone to get them if I lose my Blackberry. I keep the device backed up so if it gets wiped I just restore my data. I love the security feature that Blackberry has. It is the one reason I have not switched to the Droid or iphone.

so yeah ... im territorial. i bought the damn thing .. i did the updates ... and in entered (sync'd) all my contacts ... no one shall benefit or take advantage of my efforts!!!

Have a nice day :-D

The minor inconvenience to unlock my phone vs. the anxiety of knowing someone has access to my "stuff" is a no brainer to me.

I do wish there was the option to not lock AT ALL unless holstered. One hour currently is the max while unholstered. Around the house, I don't holster it and do not need it to lock ever. When I leave the house, it gets holstered, and I want the locking security.

I use pattern lock and love it. I find it much more convenient then typing the password. It's just secure enough to keep a lot of people out. It's not AS secure as BBs built in security, but it's a good intermediate step. Just make sure you have it set to "Lock on Boot" or "Unlock when charging" otherwise they can just pull the battery and wait for it to reboot.

Mine's pw locked after about 2 minutes non-use. It's a little bothersome typing the pw so often, but someone gaining access to my e-mail would be tragic. Someone getting into my e-mail could see what other accounts I have and have the passwords reset to gain access to all sorts of services in my name. No way I'm going to let that happen.

I would, however, like if the pw settings had more options. For example, if the device allows me to have no password, why won't it allow me to have a 2 or 3 digit pw? If someone doesn't know the length of my pw, then short is almost as good as long. If they want to offer password recommendations, that's fine, but the user should have more option. If we were given more freedom to choose how we want our password protection managed, a lot more people would use passwords. Something is almost always better than nothing.

I do not use password because it is long to take calls and everything.

When I am going to be out late, in a less populated place, out of town and stuff like this, I set the password just in case I lose the device or it gets robbed.

Should buy me enough time to use SmrtGuard to either find it or nuke it.

thats all i have to say

I do not use password protection because I need to access my phone almost every minute so it gets very bothersome to be entering a code. I do have tons of personal info in my password keeper but of course...that has a password that no one would ever figure out.

Also, I'd hate for the device to be wiped because some friend/family member tried to many times...scary...

The roll click roll click Emergency calling, the no contact names when locked and the limit on password attempts before killing the device all bother me to much.

Plus the damn thing never leaves my hip or hand.

If I have to leave it I may pass lock it on depending on the cirumstnace. They need have a timeout option of 1 day so I can manually lock when needed and a much higher attempts setting I use a strong passcode when I use it so don't need to worry about someone guessing.

People are actually complaining that the device wipes after so many incorrect attempts? This is a device originally designed for business and a higher level of security that got adopted by regular consumers. If you don't like the feature, don't use it. If your friends are too dumb to read "attempt 3/10" and not stop before hitting 10, they are idiots and you need to get new friends. If you are too lazy to back up your phone, that's your problem. Personally I think it's a great feature and if it's too confusing for some, stick with a payphone.

My BB has everything in it... way too much information for someone to be able to get at if I lose the phone. I have the password set to give 7 attempts before it wipes the device. Enough for me to screw up a few times, but too few for someone to be able to figure it out.

I don't know why people seem concerned that it wipes the device. That's the whole point. If I lose my BB or someone steals it, at least they won't be able to get at my data.

With my old phone, at work I would notice that it would be moved or placed differently from where I set it.(cell phone usage is not allowed at work, so you have to be kinda covert with it) So I figured I have some very real nice coworkers, looking at what I had been doing with it . So It was one of the first things I did when I got my berry. 10min lockout works very well for me,also bebuzz does too. :) don't even have to unlock it to see what came in.

I have mine timed to 1 hour. I would be worried if I had relatives that tried to get into my phone. Are there no manners anymore? What's worse, losing your information or somebody else getting at it?

I don't use a password. I played around with that once, set the password and 30min later wanted to unlock it but could not remember the password. So, I had to do the whole Wiping thing with no Backup of anything...

to type in your password each time but I think it would be more painful to lose your device and give someone access to all of your information.

I use password protection all the time. Every since my first blackberry to the one I have now. Even my old dumb phones had a password on them. I don't understand how people don't use the password feature with all the info that's on them from work emails to private emails.

My device is on our BES. Part of our policy is password protection. It doesn't take but 2-3 seconds to put your several character password in when you need to.

Personally, even if the device was my personal, I would still password protect it.. But hey, I'm in IT so what do you expect.

I'm a newbie! Can somebody explain PatternLock & buddyguard? Are they apps? What is the difference? Thanks!

is far too much to take any chance on losing or giving access to another person. Password protection is in place and standard for me these days.

blackberry is just as$ backwards sometimes... they preach about security yet there password feature is setup to wipe your system with easy. Hope about just locking the device and requiring the owner to reboot in order to attempt password tries again. seriously wiping the device on failed password tries should be an option and not a set feature.

and another think looking at the poll so far 60% do not use a password. like i said BB has no clue what consumers want, business users they understand... but everyone else they're clueless too.

Its a work phone and my 17. Thinks its funny to post Facebook updates on my account ugg

Its a work phone and my 17. Thinks its funny to post Facebook updates on my account ugg

i use storm slider with a 4 digit unlock.

I have my password timed for 1 hour...and sometimes I use it to prevent females who like to snoop

It works great. I don't know if it as secure as the BB password, but I don't need bulletproof security anyway.

I use buddyguard in case it would ever get lost or stolen.

I use PatternLock and then configure it to hide the dot tray.

Of course, trying to explain the pattern and where to do it to my wife when she borrowed my phone was a little tricky but it worked.

I use the password! Correct me if I'm wrong but the new 5.0 os has a timeout setting when they put the wrong password in a bunch of times, instead of wiping it. Even if I'm wrong, it would be much better for your phone to be wiped than someone getting all your personal info.

I use a password. It's helped to thwart snoopers from things. I've never lost one, but if I did I would feel better that who ever found it wouldn't get any of my info.

It wipes your device if someone can't crack the password? That's kind of scary... Now I'm afraid I will have an outcome like Nuggstein...

I'm sure it falls under "yes I lock my device". But people are talking about 10th attempts wiping their device. Some 3rd party apps offer more "tries" - in case a friend or relative tries (relentlessly) to access your BB.

No. I don't because someone (family or friends) might try to unlock it too many times and end up wiping it. But maybe I should activate it because of the new password lock setup with the merge of lock and standby. In this case only a BB addict would know how to activate the password lock ("K" on homescreen since I don't assign it to a convenience key). But it still has the timeout so a little cousin might want to play with it and attempt too many times to unlock it after the timeout has activated..

I do not use a password. I used to, but my friend tried to get into my phone, and after the 10th try...it wiped my device. It's better not to have one.