[Nguyen1]

Does the 9900/30 have childblockable settings on it? Or, is that insulting to the very premise of this phone as a business phone for mature adults?

Just wondering.

The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.

[anon(9721108)]

Does the 9900/30 have childblockable settings on it? Or, is that insulting to the very premise of this phone as a business phone for mature adults?

Just wondering.

The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.

One can always set a password on the lock screen, this also adds basic encryption.

But I do not bother encrypting my SD card, but that is an option on the 9900 also.

-sent from a beautiful Bold 9900

[Sue-zz]

To continue my disjointed thread about mobile security, covert mobile data slurping, and trying to find a 'thing' which can replicate the slowly dying world of BisBerrys in general and the Bold 9900 in particular, I set about building a 'Bold-thing' out of Android.

We know that Android can (up to a point) replicate the UI of iPhones, Windows Phone, so why not a Bold? Or, why not buy a Dtek? Apart from the expense.

So we need is more deep-rooted security in the OS, on-screen speed dials, the BB Hub, and fast push messaging. If we define 'personal security as 'prevention of all data leaving the phone without permission' we reach an interesting level were many apps won't work without connecting to Google Play Services, as discussed. However, many will.

The UK based, Chinese fabbed WileyFox Swift & Swift 2 come with CyanogenMod (CM) installed (at the moment). CM is officially dead, and there will be OTA updates, but CM Marshmallow has a much deeper integration with app security and permissions than basic Androids, like the similarly priced Motorola series. This revolves around the included Privacy Guard app, which locks down all app requests for contacts, calls, SMS, and other slurps.

Everything else can be locked down with the NetGuard App, either over mobile data, wifi, or both. Further options allow for data transfer only when the screen is on. Configuration takes some time.

BB Hub, BBM, and a BB Launcher are in the Google Play store, but carry ads under the onerous eye of Google, who disallow ad-blocking apps from their store. This raises the question of security again, so if we re-evaluate the pleasures of BB Hub, we can still get push email from the current Outlook app, without the ads. It works with IMAP accounts, mail is pushed to phone very rapidly, or with Exchange servers.

What we can do with this configuration is to add the Signal secure messaging app. It provided end-to-end encryption (if both ends use it) and it also replaces the default Messaging app for SMS texts.

With all this loaded and locked down, the Swift has managed a very creditable quiescent 4.21 MB of mobile data use over 24 hours, almost at BIS levels of data fees.

That leaves finding a replacement for the Bold's PKB (physical keyboard.) BlackBerry have placed a BB Keyboard in the Play store, which, unlike the PKB adds word stores, and a number of other smart features.

The conclusion of this Bold Heresy is that it is possible to emulate, up to a point, the security of a BB9900 and its low data use, by building a secure Android phone out of a Swift 2, and Blackberry Android apps.

This doesn't provide the ease of say, buying a Dtek, and configuring NetGuard and Privacy Guard takes some hours of analysing firewall logs to block outgoing data. The CM MarshMallow phones are also encrypted by default, though the SD card isn't, as far as I can discover.

The dual-sim Swift/Swift 2 also has 'Do-not Disturb' profiles emulating Bedside mode, and a blinking notification light for calls and SMS. It doesn't (yet) work for email. The upside is access to many more apps, secured by a granular user-configurable firewall.

So, if one day, you're pushed to the dark side and have to move away from the lovely 9900 and the almost extinct BB7 World, into another dark place with 2 million data-sucking apps, I hope this post at least provides some pointers.

The experiment will run for another week or so, the BB customised Swift and my Bold 9900 are running side by side, and we shall see what transpires by the end of January.

BB Android keyboard:

[anon(9721108)]

I've heard of NetGuard but it's funny you mention this I was just about to put this on my iPhone… It was free last week and I downloaded it just in case I wanted to try it. Not sure how it works or if it's like a browser and you have to go through it separately for everything I have no idea but I'll research it more. I like how it encrypts everything and it watches your Wi-Fi when you're at a public café or something.

But I wouldn't mind knowing what security apps might be still available for the 9900 similar to this…

[Sue-zz]

SurfEasy looks useful. The Android NetGuard is a powerful exit blocking firewall, which stops everything from the apps outward. It doesn't seem to block incomings. It does have good logging.

It would be interesting to see if the iPhone can be configured to look and feel like a BisBerry; Hub, Launcher, BB keyboard etc. 'Signal' the SMS/Phone call encryption app is available for Android and iPhones.

The Bold 9900 does pass out its IMSI, IMEI, MAC address and IP address, and I haven't yet found an app which blocks this.

It's looking like the home-brewed 'BlackDroid' with Signal is much more secure, but you can't make a cell call, use mobile data or SMS without the IMSI and IMEI being logged 'somewhere.' Putting a letter in the post is still more secure.

:-)

[Nguyen1]

So... which is more secure, a dtek phone or a wileyfox swift thus modified?
What about the oneplusone? That has cyanogenmod.

Typed from an ipad glass slab and hated every second of it....

[mushroom_daddy]

.

The experiment will run for another week or so, the BB customised Swift and my Bold 9900 are running side by side, and we shall see what transpires by the end of January.

I have the Wileyfox Swift running Cyanogen, bought as a venture into Android to see how I might cope with moving from BlackBerry. It's largely my 'play thing' used at home, mostly to consume media (often via chrome cast to TV). I'm using it now to review the Crackberry forums and to type this, via the BlackBerry virtual keyboard.
However it's only had my SIM (for any length of time) once. For me BlackBerry is all about the physical keyboard and as good as the virtual keyboards are, they just don't do it for me - for now my SIM card remains in either the 9900 or Q10.

You might like to look at the Crackberry forum on Android apps (see Stickies), you can use Colbalt232's hacks to run BlackBerry Apps ad-free eg. the Hub. If you combine these with the BlackBerry Launcher you can get a reasonable representation of the BlackBerry Android experience on the Wileyfox.



http://forums.crackberry.com/android...uired-1059855/

[littlebuff]

#Sue-zz, as you mention Dtek, does it really work securing the phone or is it just a placebo? Does it really stop apps sending out data on their own or just report which apps have beesending data?




Posted from my  Passport

[EFats]

Ah ok thanks. One of my friends had a Playbook but I never tried one, or saw another in the wild...

-sent from a beautiful Bold 9900

That's a shame! The PlayBook was my gateway into BlackBerry. The first BlackBerry device I ever owned.
After playing around with it, I was so enamored with the build quality and the OS I took the plunge and switched from my old Nokia (I hated it by the way, loyal user of Sony Ericsson actually) to a Blackberry Curve 9360.
That was even better and sadly i've now spent a bucket load of cash on plenty of BlackBerry hardware, including that wonderful 9900

[TariqOS7]

I live in UK. So some of you are saying apps can be added then removed and added again without BIS and using wi-fi only. This sounds plausible but no definitive answer seems to be coming through.

[anon(9721108)]

That's a shame! The PlayBook was my gateway into BlackBerry. The first BlackBerry device I ever owned.
After playing around with it, I was so enamored with the build quality and the OS I took the plunge and switched from my old Nokia (I hated it by the way, loyal user of Sony Ericsson actually) to a Blackberry Curve 9360.
That was even better and sadly i've now spent a bucket load of cash on plenty of BlackBerry hardware, including that wonderful 9900

Well the thing is I had so many viruses back in 2010 on my Microsoft PC running XP and they came from LimeWire. At the same time I had a Nokia C3 and I only had it about six or seven months and have the same songs that were virus-infected on both devices so they were both trashed. I needed a computer basically just to consume data I didn't need to print anything and I swore off Microsoft ever since that day and so I bought one of the first iPads in 2010. I actually used it for about three years if you can believe that long after they stopped providing updates which was about a year and a half after it was new. But in 2011 I got the 9780 the following year after the iPad and that was an odd combination because they wouldn't ssync or anything, Apple does not play nice with other Bluetooth from any device basically. Then I was given an iPad 2 and in 2014 in the summer I bought an iPad air and I'm still using that. So there really wasn't much room in my stable for a playbook. I was happy with the 9780 despite some problems but I regretted not getting the Legendary 9900 and paying the extra hundred dollars to have it on my two year contract. I also loved the 9790 and that only lasted 4 months.

So basically I'm well into the apple ecosystem and the 9900 has been really a great pleasure to own and use, so no regrets there even if a couple of things had to be fixed on it, that keyboard is worth it.

And I say that the 9900 is legendary with good evidence to back it up. It was even legendary before It came out if you read some of the early posting here. Everyone wanted one it was the device to have if you were into blackberries.

[anon(9721108)]

I live in UK. So some of you are saying apps can be added then removed and added again without BIS and using wi-fi only. This sounds plausible but no definitive answer seems to be coming through.

Correct that is what was said.

[anon(9721108)]

So I have decided against using that VPN security app on my iphone. It was cool how it told you "Your personal IP is now hidden" and that a public one was assigned. Also cool was how if you were using public wifi, it scrambled or re-encrypted the signal, those were the FREE aspects of the app you get. BUT they wanted $ every month to run the full app and for me its not worth it because I will just simply turn off wifi when I am in public if I am THAT concerned about public wifi.



-sent from a beautiful Bold 9900

[Twisted Fate]

Be careful with the free apps in general, especially the ones related to internet. When the product is free, you are the product. Keep that in mind. I try to use free (free as in freedom) and open source apps whenever possible.

[ColinsCity]

Well that throws a wrench into the gears then doesn't it.

I can't believe they would use a different dating system arrangement of numbers on the device box compared to the batteries, but who knows ....

Can you pic your battery?

This is the battery that came with the phone

[ColinsCity]

I live in UK. So some of you are saying apps can be added then removed and added again without BIS and using wi-fi only. This sounds plausible but no definitive answer seems to be coming through.

Yeah, i think i just had a different experience with mine for some reason, also you mentioned that you will use a regular data plan, i'm sure that BIS is still available in UK? it's definitely still here in ireland on two networks but it's actually included in the data plans free of charge, one of the networks is Vodafone, maybe Vodafone and O2 UK both still have BIS ?

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[Nguyen1]

Sue-zz, have you considered a Turing phone? Assuming you can even find one? I hear it is hardcore secure...

The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.

[timee80]

Yeah, i think i just had a different experience with mine for some reason, also you mentioned that you will use a regular data plan, i'm sure that BIS is still available in UK? it's definitely still here in ireland on two networks but it's actually included in the data plans free of charge, one of the networks is Vodafone, maybe Vodafone and O2 UK both still have BIS ?

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

Bis is still available. It is also free if you are on giffgaff (o2 network)

[Sue-zz]

So... which is more secure, a dtek phone or a wileyfox swift thus modified?
What about the oneplusone? That has cyanogenmod.

Typed from an ipad glass slab and hated every second of it....

I don't have a Dtek, so can't say. I locked down the Swift 2 with a VPN firewall, and that stops all phoning home in its tracks, logs the IP address, and the amount of data sent. With it, nothing gets out. Then, of course, Android slowly stops functioning as the phone becomes dumber. WileyFox is just another CyanogenMod phone. CM is officially dead, but does (did) have an extra layer of permission-blocking.

I'm back on the Bold now. :-)

The question of a PKB or not seems to be a killer feature for Bold users. I'm actually faster on the screen keyboards, even in Android, but it's just muscle memory.

"Sue-zz, have you considered a Turing phone? Assuming you can even find one? I hear it is hardcore secure..."

There are a lot of 'secure phones' out there, at a price. The Bold 9900 at £34 from Ebay, is about the most secure of all of them at the price (with BIS) from my experiments.

The other secure contender for almost no money is a Windows Lumia with 8.1 Denim. Somewhat ruined by the auto-upgrade to Windows 10. But if you need the apps, then at the moment it's Android or iPhone, or a Dtek/Priv/Mercury.

So that mostly concludes the testing, which really only confirms what we know already; BisBerrys with BIS are fast, economical to run without a contract data-plan, if you can find a PAYG Bis service, and send almost nothing back by 'phoning home' to data-miners. The downside is the app-gap; not a problem if you don't need the apps.

Adding a firewall to Android, or containerizing the data as in Dtek/Priv is useful, but it's a workaround, and Google PlayStore and the rest of it still involves' Google' for the phone to function. Embedded Android apps like YouTube still try to access data, even if they aren't used, but can be disabled, of course.

So, keep your Bolds.

[Sue-zz]

#Sue-zz, as you mention Dtek, does it really work securing the phone or is it just a placebo? Does it really stop apps sending out data on their own or just report which apps have beesending data?

As mentioned, I don't have a Dtek. The Android NetGuard app is a true outbound-blocking firewall, with permissions settings for wifi, mobile data, and data-only-with-app onscreen. It's time-consuming to set up, given the large amount of apps and background services in Android which request data on an almost continuous basis. The upside is that it's possible to secure current Android 6+ systems, the downside is the faff involved and the loss of app functionality.

It boils down to who you trust the most with your background data; BlackBerry, Apple, Google or Microsoft, notwithstanding any voluntary subscriptions to FaceBook, etc.

I'm back on the Bold now, so I trust that y'all have enough info to make a decision. I note with horror, that my home location is now logged again by Google after using the Android phone on my wifi router. It doesn't happen with the Bold. :-)

[anon(9721108)]

As mentioned, I don't have a Dtek. The Android NetGuard app is a true outbound-blocking firewall, with permissions settings for wifi, mobile data, and data-only-with-app onscreen. It's time-consuming to set up, given the large amount of apps and background services in Android which request data on an almost continuous basis. The upside is that it's possible to secure current Android 6+ systems, the downside is the faff involved and the loss of app functionality.

It boils down to who you trust the most with your background data; BlackBerry, Apple, Google or Microsoft, notwithstanding any voluntary subscriptions to FaceBook, etc.

I'm back on the Bold now, so I trust that y'all have enough info to make a decision. I note with horror, that my home location is now logged again by Google after using the Android phone on my wifi router. It doesn't happen with the Bold. :-)

Suzee do you bother to set up the Firewall on the 9900?

[littlebuff]

I live in UK. So some of you are saying apps can be added then removed and added again without BIS and using wi-fi only. This sounds plausible but no definitive answer seems to be coming through.

I can get apps from BlackBerry World with wifi.
Other way to install an app is search for the jad file or cod file of that app. Now this is the beauty of BBOS, when someone could build an app and send out the cod or jad file, and you did not, and do not have to be totally dependent on an app store.

With a software like vnbbutilis, you can make a cod or jad file of an app you have in your Blackberry.

Posted from my  Passport

[littlebuff]

Thanks #Sue-zz.

I have a Priv in the house with Dtek on it. From the introduction Dtek will report any app sending out data on its own, if I remember it correctly. So far Dtek has always been green meaning phone secured, no app sending data. This is hard to believe considering tons of Androids apps my kids downloaded.

Perhaps I will see if my house location has been read by Google. Hope that it is not too difficult to find out.

Posted from my  Passport

[anon(9721108)]

I have a Blackberry Q10 which is OK, but I was crazy to sell my two 9900s to go towards my Z10 and then Q10 which I have now. But I missed my 9900, so I bought two and I am really happy now!!

How did they work out? Any updates?

Re-reading this entire thread, still can't believe how many people re-ordered one of these devices!

-sent from a beautiful Bold 9900

[Michniks]

Question for user of mail account in Yahoo.

A few months ago my Yahoo account in my 9900 works super! It works like gmail - real push - zero delay, even sometimes I get email faster than Gmail. But since few months(weeks?) It works like my other accounts -e.g. Outlook.com - I get emails from 5-15min - not longer.

What is your experience with Yahoo email account via BIS?