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Mission (not so) Impossible: Secure All Mobile Devices! Defeat The Wrong Hands!

Date: 10/16/2007

Your mission should you choose to accept it is to find and activate a security software for your handheld mobile device that is easy to use yet protects your data in the event of theft or loss. Taking action now is critical to your personal safety when considering the facts: A single security breach within an American corporation costs more than $500,000. About 37 percent of on-the-go mobile users likely have confidential data on their devices. Yet 90 percent of the devices have insufficient protection and storage encryption to withstand casual-to-moderate hacker attacks.

Think you're not vulnerable? Let's get real. Each year one of three handheld devices goes missing in this nation. As a result, private and privileged knowledge of financial assets, personal property and business contacts invariably falls into -- the wrong hands. Such an event is a potential precursor to identity theft or the abuse of classified information.

The drama of data loss may seem like an over-the-top television or cinematic thriller. But Chirag Patel knows better. Patel is president of Corsoft, a San Mateo, California-based firm that provides mobile messaging and computing services -- and protection from villainous Information Age bandits.

"When we think about the world, we want to hope it's a better place for our kids and ourselves, but we find that it is not. Things can go wrong," he said. "Most people, if they find a mobile device, the angel in them wants to get the phone back to the owner. But what if it belongs to Bill Gates or some other celebrity or a competitor? Now that angel gets pushed aside by the devil. Now the person who found the mobile device wonders who he knows. He wonders what data is here. Before he didn't expect anything. Now his expectations have changed. That's the unfortunate part of human nature."

Patel has made it his mission to do battle with the dual nature of human beings. He knows most people who enjoy the miracle of handheld smart phones naturally insist on absolute privacy -- their American right! -- unless, of course, activating the security mode is a hassle, uncool, or involves instructions that are difficult to memorize. His solution? Warden: protective software that allows mobile owners to easily lock up their private data, regardless of whether the device is in their possession. Or, in extreme cases, data on an irretrievable mobile device can actually be destroyed by logging into one of Patel's websites.

The Warden defense mechanism doesn't stop there. Software users also have two methods for defining auto-destruction of data: One is based on the time duration of the phone lock; the second is based on the number of attempts made to unlock the device. Scenario One: The user may prefer data be destroyed if their lost device is not unlocked in, say, 48 hours or any other period of time deemed suitable. Scenario Two: It may be advisable to destroy the data after a thief has made 20 (or more or less) unsuccessful attempts to unlock the phone. "If the data is not in my hands, I want to make sure it's not in anyone else's hands," he said. Mission accomplished.

Statistics reveal that only 1 percent of handheld users actually bother to utilize built-in default security systems. Often they are too clumsy to operate or simply impractical. ("Everybody knows the importance of it, but manufacturers know nobody uses it," Patel said.) It is frustrating, to say the least, when defensive software meant to keep out hackers and scoundrels actually impair owner access to data. Patel has designed Warden so that parameters can easily be configured to the user's preferences. For example, mobiles can be programmed to shut down and lock up at intervals appropriate to the owner's level of activity. Leave your phone unattended at work or home? A timely automatic lock up at a predetermined interval may be wise, even for the most trusting of mobile device operators. In addition, the Warden checks for network connections via the radio and can secure the phone when the link is cut off or is below the user defined acceptance level allowing the owner to access the phone while blocking out others.

In the world of espionage, or neighborhood errands, it is important to have good negotiation skills. In the event of loss or theft, Warden allows your mobile device to do your bidding. If found, the phone can post a reward for its return: a monetary amount or lunch for two, for example. Or it can simply display an option to call the owner (to a predefined home or work number) to facilitate its return.

Never misplace a phone and you'll never have to worry about the sticky fingers -- or the dastardly technological reach -- of the wrong hands. But since forgetfulness is another decidedly human factor that simply will not dry up and disappear, Warden has a solution for users of Bluetooth wireless headsets. The common scenario has our hero -- you -- wearing a headset that has somehow lost connectivity with the mobile. Possibly the device has been left on a kitchen counter or in a colleague's office. Don't despair. Upon separation Warden will cause the mobile to immediately lock up and play a tune or vocal message. "In safe environments someone will hear it and want to get your phone to you. The whole idea is if we can make sure you don't lose your phone in the first place, you've got the best security," Patel said.

Patel hopes no harm will come to his clients, but in case of an emergency -- an automobile accident or some other physically disarming scenario, the Warden solution is there: blood type, allergies -- if any, medications and medical history can all be displayed. This feature alone could prove critical in a life-or-death situation. For example, an unconscious person cannot alert EMTs that he is allergic to anesthesia, but Warden can, and much more quickly than an excitable family member who has just been notified of an accident. However, Warden also connects to significant others who should be notified in case of an emergency. And all this private information is blocked if you have locked your phone remotely when it is not in your possession. "We hope our users never have to use that, but since the phone is usually with them at all times, we like to make sure that basic medical information is available."

Corsoft was established about 15 years ago to serve the appliance computing market. By 1996, the firm began to provide services to the internet market, and later the wireless technology market for pagers and cell phones. About 10 years ago, Patel's firm began to focus on personal and corporate mobile messaging, eventually introducing the Warden solution.

Currently, the software product is available for Windows Mobile Pocket PC's and Smart Phones, as well as Treo devices that run the Palm OS. It also allows corporate users to manage a fleet of company-owned devices. "Your mobile phone is your link to the rest of the world. We want to make sure it is available to you and you only," said Patel.

This story will self-destruct in five seconds.

For more information about Corsoft visit http://www.corsoft.com;
or E-mail solutions@corsoft.com . Call (650) 286-2870 or Fax (650) 585-6504 or write
to: Corsoft, 1710 S. Amphlett, Suite 209, San Mateo, CA 94402

Douglas Glenn Clark is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, California

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