Section 6. Password-Protect Your Device

6. Password-Protect Your Device

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

5 Lock and Unlock Your Device

SEE ALSO

4 Make Yourself the Owner

91 Protect Your Content

94 Register Your Device with StuffBak

If you're like most people, you keep your BlackBerry device close to your person at almost all times. Although this goes a long way toward keeping your device secure, there is always the possibility of someone else picking up your device and looking through your data or, in the worst case, of your device getting lost or stolen and falling into unknown hands. For this reason, you might want to consider password-protecting your device, which simply means that a password is required to unlock the device. You still lock your device as normal, but you need to enter a password to unlock it. Although entering a password to unlock your device can be cumbersome, it can offset the inherent risks associated with an unsecured device.

6. Password-Protect Your Device

1.	Open the Tools Screen Scroll to the Tools icon on the Home screen and click the trackwheel. The Tools screen opens. TIP To immediately jump to the Home screen from any other screen, press the End key.
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.
3.	Open the Security Screen Scroll to the Security option in the list and click the trackwheel. The Security screen opens.
4.	Enable the Password Feature Click the trackwheel on the text at the right end of the Password field (either the word Enabled or Disabled ) and then click Change Option . In the menu that appears, scroll the trackwheel to select Enabled and click to accept it. TIP To quickly change an option without having to go through the two trackwheel clicks required to open a menu and select Change Option , press the Alt key to view a list of options. Then scroll to the desired choice and click the trackwheel to select it. An even faster shortcut involves cycling to the next available choice by pressing the Space key. NOTE If your BlackBerry device is currently password-protected and you want to disable the feature, select Disabled from the Password menu instead.
5.	Set the Security Timeout Scroll the trackwheel to the value at the right end of the Security Timeout field and click; then click Change Option . Scroll the trackwheel to select the security timeout in minutes, and click to accept it. NOTE The security timeout specifies how long your device must sit idle before automatically locking itself.
6.	Set the Holster Lock Option Scroll the trackwheel to the Yes or No at the right end of the Lock Handheld Upon Holstering field and click; then click Change Option . From the menu that appears, scroll to select Yes or No and click to accept this setting. NOTE When enabled, the Lock Handheld Upon Holstering option causes your device to be automatically locked anytime it is placed in the holster. This is a handy setting if you are the kind of person who constantly locks and unlocks your device to prevent accidental key presses. TIP You can use the Lock Handheld Upon Holstering option even if you choose not to password-protect your device. NOTE If you're curious about how your BlackBerry device knows when it is placed in its holster, I'll let you in on a secret: A small round magnet inside the front of the holster is sensed by your device when it is seated in the holster. You can verify this by holding your device against the outside front of the holsterit will lock itself as if you had slid it in the holster magic!
7.	Exit and Save Changes Press the Escape button to exit the Security screen. When prompted to save or discard your changes, scroll the trackwheel to Save and click to save the changes.
8.	Enter the New Password A dialog box appears prompting you for the new password. Using the keyboard, enter the password, making sure that it is at least four characters long. When you enter a password, each character is shown briefly as you type it before it is turned into an asterisk. This is helpful because your password will likely require different keystrokes depending on whether you use alphabetic or numeric input mode. Password entry is always carried out in multitap mode, but you can switch between alphabetic and numeric characters by briefly holding down the Next key (asterisk). Alphabetic multitap mode is always selected by default when you enter a password, so I recommend sticking with an alphabetic password as opposed to a numeric one. In numeric mode, the familiar ABC icon in the upper-right corner of the screen changes to 123 . TIP Keep in mind that you will be entering the password every time you unlock your device, which will likely be frequently, especially if you have the security timeout set to a low value or you're using the Lock Handheld Upon Holstering option. For this reason, you should specify a password you can enter quickly. I prefer thinking of it as more of a PIN code, which means sticking with the minimum of four characters. TIP Alphabetic multitap mode is the default mode for entering passwords, which means you'll have to constantly switch to numeric mode to enter a numeric password or press the Shift key for each number. So, I recommend using an alphabetic PIN code instead of a numeric one so you don't have to change to numeric mode every time you enter the password. Press the Enter key when you're finished entering the password. Another screen appears, prompting you to verify the new password. Enter it again and press the Enter key. Your BlackBerry unit is now password-protected. This password protection goes into effect whenever the timeout value expires , you place the device in its holster with the Lock Handheld Upon Holstering option set, or you manually lock it. You will now have to enter your password to unlock your device so you can use it again. TIP Even with a device locked, you are able to make emergency calls. Just use the trackwheel to select and click Emergency Call on the Unlock screen that appears when you attempt to unlock the device. You might have noticed additional options on the Security screen for Content Protection and Content Compression . The Content Protection option allows you to take your BlackBerry security to another level by protecting the content on your device. To learn how, see 91 Protect Your Content . The Content Compression option, which is enabled by default, compresses all the content on your device to conserve space. Because there is no noticeable performance loss when using content compression, you should leave it on.
9.	Change Your Password At some point, you might need to change your password. In fact, some experts recommend changing your password regularly for an added level of security. You change the password from the Security screen by clicking Enabled on the Password field with the trackwheel and then clicking Change Password from the menu that appears. Enter the old password, click the trackwheel, and then enter the new password.

TIP

If your device is locked, you don't have to press a key or click the trackwheel to view the password entry screen and enter your password. Just start typing your password on the locked deviceeven if the device's screen is offand the password entry screen automatically appears. This saves you an extra key press.