[jlwalsh83]

i have a curve 8310, OS 4.2. ps, i'm a newbie. i've searched threads, but was unable to find what i needed. what are the recommended security settings? should my firewall be on? how important is the password set up? any general info would be great!

[greg24]

everything on my berry is disabled. as far as a password goes, thats gonna be a personal preference

[jeffh]

I always recommend using a password. Your friends' and family's personal, private information is in your call logs and address book. You can always get a new phone. Do you want some identity thief (or worse) having a family member's picture, home address, and phone number?

You can also encrypt your microSD card separately. Depending on what you use it for, that might also be a good idea. It is not wiped when the bb wipes after 10 incorrect attempts. Obviously it can also be removed from the device and used separately, unless encrypted.

How to Set A Password:

Options / Security Options / General Settings /
Password: Enabled
Number of Password Attempts: 10
Security Timeout: your choice
Prompt on Application Install: No
Lock Handheld Upon Holstering: your choice
Allow Outgoing Calls While Locked: No
Content Compression: Enabled
Content Protection: Enabled
Strength: Strong
Include Address Book: No

With these settings, your caller ID will still work, but if you lose your BlackBerry, no one can make calls on it and your friends' and family's personal information in your address book is protected.

Press the Escape key. You'll be prompted to enter a password and verify it. BE SURE YOU REMEMBER IT. There is no way to bypass the password on a BlackBerry. If you forget it, you will have no choice but to wipe the BlackBerry back to its factory-out-of-the-box configuration, which deletes all user data and resets the password. You can then use the phone.

It's also a good idea to put a number to call in case the BlackBerry is found in your owner info field. That way, if somebody finds your locked BlackBerry, they can call you to return it. I lost mine in the Washington DC Metro. Because it was locked with a number to call if found, I had it back in four hours.

If you exceed your password attempts limit (defaults to 10, but you can set it as low as 3), you will be prompted one last time to type the word BlackBerry. The device will then wipe. It will be reset to the factory out-of-the-box condition, and the password reset. You will lose everything in the device memory, with no possibility of recovery. It will not reformat the microSD card, since that's not part of the factory configuration. The phone will still be usable, and the operating system will be unchanged. So this technique cannot be used to roll back from an OS upgrade problem.