Section 88. Secure the SIM Card


88. Secure the SIM Card

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

87 About BlackBerry Security


SEE ALSO

5 Lock and Unlock Your Device

6 Password-Protect Your Device

89 Turn On the Firewall

90 Protect Your Content

91 Safely Store IDs and Passwords on Your Device


Like most mobile phones, your BlackBerry 7100 device includes a s ubscriber identity module ( SIM ) card whose primary purpose is to securely store the key that uniquely identifies you to your wireless service provider. Not only does the SIM card provide access to any contacts you might have stored on it (see 72 Access the SIM Phone Book ), but it also serves as your device's access key to your wireless service provider. This means you can remove the SIM card from your BlackBerry device, place it in another device, and make calls on your wireless account. Of course, other people can do the same with your SIM card, which is a bad thing.

The way to prevent other people from stealing your SIM card and using it on their own devices is to enable SIM card security with a PIN code. A PIN code prevents your SIM card from being useful to someone else on her own device, and it prevents other people from being able to make calls using your device. In other words, SIM card security provides a way of locking out just the phone functionality of your BlackBerry device. This might or might not be a big deal to you, but it's an important feature of your device that you should know how to enable and disable.

1.
Open the Tools Screen

Scroll to the Tools icon on the Home screen and click the trackwheel. The Tools screen appears, showing a list of tool options.

2.
Open the Settings Screen

Scroll to the Settings icon and click the trackwheel. A list of options for which you can change the settings appears.

88. Secure the SIM Card


3.
Open the SIM Card Screen

Scroll to the SIM Card option in the list of settings and click the trackwheel. The SIM Card screen opens.

4.
Enable SIM Card Security

The SIM Card screen displays the unique ID of the SIM card along with the SIM phone number, which is the phone number of your BlackBerry device. To enable SIM security, click the trackwheel, scroll to select Enable Security from the menu that appears, and click again. A dialog box appears and prompts you to enter the PIN code for the SIM card.

5.
Enter the SIM PIN Code

Every SIM card has a PIN code that restricts access to the card. If you've never explicitly set a PIN code for your SIM card, it likely has a default value of either 1234 or 0000 ; try entering each of these values if you haven't set a PIN code for your SIM card. When you successfully enter the PIN code, security for the SIM card is enabled and the PIN code is required any time in the future when the device is powered off and back on.

NOTE

A SIM PIN code can be anywhere from four to eight digits, including both letters and numbers .

TIP

If your SIM card has a default PIN code other than 1234 or 0000 , do not change it to 1234 or 0000 because these are popular default settings. If you don't know your PIN code and these default codes don't work, contact your wireless service provider to determine the code or have it reset. In the worst case, your service provider will issue you a new SIM card.

If someone attempts to access your device with an incorrect PIN code, she has a limited number of chances (usually either 3 or 10 tries ) before the SIM card locks itself. When a SIM card locks, it can only be unlocked with a special eight-digit personal unblocking key (PUK) that you must obtain from your wireless service provider. The PUK for a SIM card is fixed and cannot be changed. If you enter the wrong PUK 10 times, the SIM card permanently locks itself, requiring you to obtain a new one.

NOTE

Some SIM cards support an additional PIN2 code that can be used to provide security for additional SIM features. If your SIM card supports a PIN2 code, you can also set it using the SIM Card screen.

6.
Change the SIM PIN Code

You should change the PIN code on your device if you've never explicitly changed it from the default setting. After you've enabled SIM card security, you can easily change the PIN code by clicking the trackwheel and selecting Change PIN Code from the menu that appears. Click again, and you are prompted to enter the existing PIN code followed by the new code. You actually have to enter the new code twiceonce to initially specify it and again to verify it.

TIP

If you've moved a SIM card from another mobile phone to your BlackBerry device and the SIM phone number wasn't updated, you can easily change it by clicking the trackwheel and selecting Edit SIM Phone Number from the menu that appears. Click again and enter the correct SIM phone number. Of course, there's a good chance that your mobile phone number didn't change, in which case changing the SIM phone number is unnecessary.




BlackBerry in a Snap
BlackBerry in a Snap
ISBN: 0672326701
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 149

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