A New Blackberry Bold in 2012? I think not. . .

Who watched New Year’s Rocking Eve and saw the ‘new’ Blackberry Bold for 2012 unveiled? Yawn. Same size screen. No new apps. Woo hoo- you can tweet. Yippee- you can facebook. Wait! It’s got a touch screen! Hey, my Palm Pre had a touch screen. Palm. . . Blackberry. . . same thing very soon. . .

Just as I was thinking I had been too hard on Research in Motion, they proved me right. There is nothing going on over there except for passing the hat for the next person jumping ship before they shut the lights off. The only thing left for them is who takes over their corporate services and who will take over the hardware. In the meantime, nobody in their right mind is buying BB for themselves. The problem is. . . what to go with now?

Security conscious folks- those in business who have intellectual property and trade secrets to protect, lawyers, doctors and other professionals who are required to protect privilged and confidential data and all of the support staff we rely on who communicate with us are stymied- where should we look for our next smart phone?

As Sharon Nelson reported on her blog, Ride the Lightning, recently, the Department of Defense has nixed the iPhone because Apple won’t give on security issues. The DoD chose to go with Android, but their choice is a bit perplexing and certainly leaves the question of where to turn for our next phone unresolved. The DoD only approved the Android 2.2 operating system, and at that, a stripped down version. The only phone it approved as ‘secure’ is the Dell Venue. Not the sexiest communication device on the market. Of course, phones are currently shipping with the 2.3 operating system. The security differences between the two are not completely known, but according to most sources, Android is the most hacked system out there.

Aside from security issues associated with the Android OS, there are ongoing challenges by Apple claiming that Google infringed upon its intellectual property , at least one of which has been successful. Others are pending. There is no doubt that the challenges will continue. The implications for actual users remains a wild card, but it is unlikely that either the iOS or the Andoid OS will become unavailable or unworkable in the near future.

Until then, what's a lawyer to do?

1) Well, in my experience, hacking phones isn't a big issue. The biggest problems with mobile devices are losing them. So, secure whatever device you have with a password. Other problems with smartphones have come from dropping it in coffee, my son taking it outside to play without my permission and leaving in the rain, dropping it in the toilet- an ugly, ugly event- and, unfortunately, but you guessed it. . . forgetting the password and wiping the phone. Which brings me to #2. . .

2) Back up your phone information. You don't have to do it every day, but do it regularly. There are few things more painful than losing all your contact information and all the emails you received on your phone but didn't sync up to your pc.

3) Do not. . . i repeat. . . DO NOT. . . sell or give away any device, most especially your smart phone that at any time contained privileged or confidential data. Engage the services of a professional to wipe and dispose of the device. I've told this story before, but it bears repeating because it's horrifying and true.

Once upon a time, a laywer who dropped her cell phone in the toilet turned to e-Bay to buy a new Blackberry Bold. This tack was partly taken for research purposes and partly because e-Bay offers the best deals on used, unlocked phones (by unlocked, I mean you can use the phone again). With purchase in hand and savings in the bank, the sly lawyer went about activating the phone. To her surprise (and admitted merriment), the former owner of the phone had not de-activated his email. Although he followed all the instructions provided by the communications carrier and Research in Motion for deleting his information and 'wiping' the phone, quite a bit of data remained, and continued to be transmitted to the phone.

This wouldn't have been much of an issue, I suppose, if the prior owner was a teenager looking to fund the next smartphone upgrade. This particular prior BB owner was, in fact, employed in the finance department of a major oil company. Major. And the new owner of the smartphone received all sorts of data about acquiring new companies, pricing and cost information and, oh, you get the idea. The phone even came with a couple of pictures of the prior owner's kids. Had the phone not fallen into the hands of a responsible lawyer, who knows what might have happened? However, this phenomena didn't occur once in isolation. It occurred again after another unfortunate incident involving some moisture and a smartphone and the self-same lawyer. This time, the prior owner was not nearly as interesting. However, personal identifying information is personal identifying information, and who needs for it to fall into the wrong hands?

4) Treat your media tablets and your laptops as you would your smartphone- password protect it.