A recent survey by IT security firm Credant Technologies found that 24% of UK legal firms confessed to misplacing at least one mobile device. A worrying statistic indeed considering the amount of electronic information we all find necessary to carry around with us these days and certainly within the legal profession, the sensitivity of the data concerned. In light of this, along with the inevitability and amount of items lost, no wonder security procedures are high on the agenda.

The good news is that taking precautionary measures needn’t be complicated as with both Total and BlackBerry, you are in a safe pair of hands.

Whilst we can all rely on the AES and 3DES encryption that BlackBerry manufacturer, RIM offer to keep data safe whilst it is pushed to and from the BES server, the possibility of losing a device containing confidential information remains. Thankfully a range of options are available to safeguard a BlackBerry device from being compromised should you misplace it.
 
Paul Lees, IT Manager at Total agrees: ‘Many of our customers, particularly within the legal sector, see the importance of implementing security procedures to protect themselves and their clients. Security policies aren’t complex to put into action and what’s more they can be easily managed.’

Firstly, should you need to report a mobile or BlackBerry as lost or stolen, one call to Total will ensure it will be barred. As we have direct access to the network, changes such as this can be made instantaneously.

A simple enough procedure that is available around the clock, but for BES customers, there are also a number of other precautionary and simple policy procedures that can be taken to protect handsets ‘over the air’.

From the BlackBerry Manager IT Policy menu, server administrators can, at any time, password protect each BlackBerry device with specified time-out parameters, set up pattern checks which specify the characters to be used, deny the use of certain easily recognised passwords and most importantly of all designate the number of times a password can be attempted before the device becomes unusable.
 
In addition, to the above measures it is possible to literally ‘kill’ a device from the server, as one ‘in house’ command against a user number will immediately erase all data and disable the device. This can be taken a stage further by applying duress settings, allowing a user to send a covert message to an administrator, should they be forced to access their device against their will.

‘The security features available to us with BlackBerry are invaluable’ says Tracy Linton, Head of IT at Rickerbys LLP ‘On one occasion, we needed to ensure that a lost device was not accessible. We were able to do this quickly via our BES server and had complete confidence that the confidential client information contained on the handset was not compromised in any way.’

What happens though if you should then find your BlackBerry?

All is not lost though, because whilst the above steps will mean your data is not accessible to anyone, it is in fact usually partly recoverable, as more often than not seven days of history can be restored by your administrator.

Certainly these simple preventative steps are worthy of consideration, especially as the Law Society best practice guidelines on information security and the press focus on the need to be vigilant.

Should you require any further information on the subject or would like to discuss your security options with us please contact us at legal@total-ltd.co.uk or call us on 0845 070 5460.