Blackberry security question

[editor]

A friend of mine is trying to decide whether to get a Blackberry or a thumb drive so she can have her files with her at all times. She works for a small non-profit and spends her time shuttling between other even smaller non-profits.

A laptop would be an ideal solution, but none of the agencies wants to pay for it since none of them will see the benefits of it full-time.

The complication is that the files she drags around with her are HIPPA sensitive, so she needs encryption. I know the Blackberry is capable of encryption, but I'm not exactly sure how.

I've seen information that you can just push a couple of menu buttons and encrypt the files on a Blackberry's memory card.

But I've also seen information that this has to be allowed and configured by the IT department. Her group has a very small IT department, and certainly no Blackberry server. So is the encryption something she can do on her own, or is it more complicated than that?

[sevfiv]

Not sure about the difficulty of this, but there is open source software that can encrypt drives:

http://glosoli.blogspot.com/2005/09/encryp...d-autoplay.html

http://www.truecrypt.org/

[editor]

Thanks. I'll let her know about that. I think one of the complications is that on at least one of the computers she works with she may not be able to install software. That's one of the reasons I was rooting for the secure flash drive. But her clients might make an exception for something as business-like as this.

[sevfiv]

I think she could download that software on her home computer (she has one?) and put the Truecrypt thingie on her flash drive from there.

[editor]

I think she could download that software on her home computer (she has one?) and put the Truecrypt thingie on her flash drive from there.

That's a good idea. She has a Mac at home, but the other machines she works with are Windows. But as long as she puts both binaries on the flash drive, it should work.