Consider the data on your phone--mail, contacts, etc. Losing it could cause quite an issue. And apparently bluetooth is a huge security hole. You have to be careful with these things.

Only company-owned, Windows Mobile devices (no Blackberry) allowed; password required. No desktop synchronization permitted--only direct sync with company enterprise e-mail server, which requires encrypted connection. IT can remote wipe devices.

Fact is, every device connected to network poses a security risk. There should be a way to make this work for BHO.

Blackberry is proprietary and isn't friendly with Exchange mail...so the history books are now written and the front pages will read:

"Blackberry loses out to Windows Mobile!" "Prez upset and falling into depression!"

Most cell phone services with email access scrub all email content, so the prez will find out he is not his own man as much as he was when he was senator...

He won't ditch his Blackberry...he'll just have to store it with the rest of the jam...smiles...

DB

Echoing mat's comment here. If the POTUS can make a secure phone call, then it should be possible for them to secure mobile device connections, as well.

There are ways to capture the emails sent and received by Blackberry for archiving purposes. There are IT policies that can be enforced to secure the information (data at rest) and the transportation of data. Using a BlackBerry Enterprise Server assures that the data is encrypted. IT policies can ensure the use of passwords and assure the device is wiped if someone is entering the password incorrectly (anywhere from 1 try to 10 tries). With a knowledgeable BlackBerry administrator Obama should be able to continue to use his BlackBerry.

By implementing "best practices," which include security controls, President-Elect Obama can still keep his Blackberry. Secure socket (transmission)- SSL communication, content encryption, complex passwords, lockout after too many attempts are just samples of what security measures are included with a Enterprise mobile device deployment such as Blackberry. As far as personal devices go, check with your service provider. I'm sure there are huge holes in your mobile environment (most out-of-the box configurations).

Mobile device security is a science and you need to be proactive.

What is needed is a biometric test prior to gaining access. This can be used instead of a password or in conjunction with a PIN for access control and encryption. Low-cost effective software exists today for this and can be implemented on stylus-enabled devices (and possibly finger devices). Owners would submit simple secret signs on-screen with inking inhibited as the biometric samples. They would then be free of the need to remember and enter long complicated passwords and their secret sign would be totally under their control.

Unlike the average marketing exec, a mobile device poses a significant threat to the President: in theory, it would allow hostile forces to pinpoint his location within the residence, motorcade or any other location.

Marketing execs mainly have to worry about being poisoned in the cafeteria or stabbed in the parking lot. At least, that's the way they always go around here...

It sounds to me it's time for the U.S. government to embrace change and come up with its own Blackberry-like service that the Prez can carry safely, where they can build into it all the security they want.

Have it read his thumbprint on the display before it can be activated. If anyone other than he or authorized individuals attempts to use it, it'll lock itself down and send out a homing beacon, onto which all sorts of FBI agents can swarm upon and retrieve. Make it so that, and short of destroying it, there will be no way to shut it up once the beacon has been activated. Build all the code and hardware in-house by the military. Posession of any of these devices by anyone not government is instant jail time.

They say anything can be done with money. Knowing a friend of mine in the GAO, they can surely redirect some of the ill-spent funds to take care of that priority.

Are you telling me that with over a $3 trillion (soon to be > $4 trillion) budget, the completely out of control leviathan U.S. government cannot even figure out a way to allow the POTUS to carry a BlackBerry securely?

Could it be because the BlackBerry is a CANADIAN device and the source code is proprietary, so backdoors could be installed straight to Ottawa or something? I mean BES is extremely customizable for security so they must be concerned about something like this.

The omnipotent U.S. gov't should force RIMM (by threatening to disallow U.S. sales, of course) to give up the source code for a hardcore line-by-line security audit so that Obama can continue to carry it, IMO.

As I write this on my Blackberry I would say that the president should have access to a Blackberry or some other device, after the NSA or some other agency has figured out some fancy encryption-password schema. Then the government can sell the patent to the private sector for 10 cents on the dollar. In the meantime it will create a few jobs and gobs of profit for some lucky company.

We must remember no matter how well you may think your data is secure, someone will come along who is better than you and access what you don't want them to! So we take the best practices approach to secure and encrypt the data so that above-average individuals are kept out. I say he should keep his BlackBerry and follow best practices such as changing his password on a regular basis, having an IT staff that sets the right policies to secure the data upon transmission, Use certificates to encrypt and decrypt data, and be able to remotely wipe his device upon a suspected compromise of any secure data.

I have to agree with most of the posters here. Having supported BlackBerrys and other mobile devices for over 5 years, the encryption technology has become pretty sophisticated. My only question is, where is Blackberry or Microsoft's comments on this? I mean they are the ones, after all, that are knocking on the doors of enterprises across the country touting just how great their security is on these devices. I mean, if it is not good enough for the President, what are CEOs and CIOs around the country going to think of those of us that have been begging them for the upgrades to improve security, only to get the impression that it just isn’t secure enough?

How about choosing an option that will cost the U.S. taxpayers a fraction of the cost of the above options and allow for certain security? I am of course suggesting they start with an open-source phone such as the Android or the Open Moko and customize it using code and techniques only a few would know, thereby allowing the president to have a secure device instead of something weak like a Windows Mobile device.

The president's communications (all e-comm) must be encrypted both at the network layer and the data layer. No devices deliver this level of security today, and so the president's communications are clearly insecure if using any existing smartphone. The government needs to host its own email server with customized security layers built in and eliminate all e-comm traffic from being routed through non-government systems. Only this approach is secure enough for "A"-level government communications.

Col. E