SD card full security wanted

[krispy]

Is there an app out there that will automatically, on the fly, encrypt/decrypt ALL data written/read on SD cards. My biggest fear with my T3 is if one of the various cards in my case should fall out and end up in someone elses hands. I keep a lot of large company specific docs on them.

[snark]

Could TealLock (http://www.tealpoint.com/softlock.htm) do?

[krispy]

No, that app requires you to pick the files to encrypt and enter passwords each time you start. I would like one that sits in RAM and just scrambles anything headed to the card and automatically decrypts when reading. And no password required to enter each time after initial set-up. My Palm is secure, the cards are not.

[Edlin]

I`ve been looking for a similar type of thing too.
The best I`ve come up with so far is PGP for PalmOS. I havent tested it yet though.
Theres the most uptodate commerical version: <http://www.pgp.com/products/enterprise/mobile_features.html> but for $60 USD/year or $125 USD perputal non upgrades it seems pricey to try. Feature list looks good, and if your company pays for it go for it :)
Theres an older (98) free version at pgpi.org <http://www.pgpi.org/products/pgp/versions/freeware/palm/> that comes with source code but skimpy on readmes. I`m still debating trying it out and unsure what the feature set is for it (ie whether it can create an encrypted volume). Or being a few years old even whether it supports VFS.
Please let me now if you try either and what they`re like.

[eurisko]

My recommendation would be PDA Defense Professional 3.1c.

PGP doesn't (at least didn't a couple months ago) yet support OS5 in full.

PDA Defense offers full encryption of both databases and applications. You configure it all. It also offers full encryption of your data on your SD card. It has additional features such as the PDA Bomb (You can configure it to wipe all data after so many failed password attempts, I had to disable this, as I work with stupid people that pick up shiny objects and tend to play with them).

All the encryption and flexibility of this application impressed me. What also impressed me was how seemless it functions. If you are logged in, everything is quick and easy to access. It decrypts the data you need on the fly with no noticable (at least on a T and up) speed impact. If you hit a function like Find, it's smart enough to decrypt EVERYTHING in memory to allow the find to work properly. It's VERY flexible.

You can also set it in stealth mode, so when it starts up, you don't realize you are running any special security software.

The Enterprise edition is being evaluated by my firm to deploy to all PDA users. You can centrally manage some of the PDA policies with it from what I understand. (haven't played with that piece yet though)

Worth taking a look at.

[krispy]

Thanks! PDA Defense Pro looks like the way to go.

[Edlin]

Does look good.
Though its not functional with my NX ):
Oh well. Gonna try pgpwireless.

[Dragwyr]

I tried playing around with PDA Defense Pro. Had some problems with my password. I required a password on one of my apps to open it. The pw I set somehow got corrupted and I wasn't able to open that app any more. I had to do a hard reset and reinstall everything from backup. Be careful though. Hotsync makes a backup of the PDA Defense Pro files. You will have to remove them first before hotsyncing to your Palm.

[eurisko]

I never had that happen. Ah, just curious, do you run any specialized applications that also hook the launch of certain applications?

For instance, I use CodeDiver to specifically force AvantGo (only works on build 66) to go full screen on the T3. If I try to put the password protection on AvantGo, it gets all ugly about it. :(

That's the only thing that generally causes an issue in my personal experience. Actually, since the 3.1 series that is. The 3.0 beta's for OS 5 were BAD and ugly, and well, I won't comment on the number of Hard Resets and reinstalls beta testers went through.

[Edlin]

`nother choice I saw today at <http://www.palmloyal.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1557> Disk Manager.
A lot cheaper (though I have to admit I dont actually know how much PDA Defence costs, cant find it own thier web site :( but sure its more than 15 USD), the blurb sounds pretty good, strong AES encrypted 'volumes'. So might be some fiddling to make sure all your apps are saving into the virtual card.
Doesnt look like the total solution that PDA Defence is but havent checked it out much yet. Doesnt have bombs like PDA Defence :( .
Link at PalmGear (http://palmloyal.palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&SID=8950BB48-CF18-AC2E-7506C5DEB7F51BBC&PartnerREF=&prodID=53334)

Blurb

Doesnt look like a total solution the way PDA defence is though. Application Type: Commercial $14.90 USD
Application Summary: security tool utilizing transparent encryption to protect important information stored on your handheld. It optionaly compresses all data placed in created virtual disk
Application Description:

Disk Manager is a security tool utilizing transparent encryption to protect important information stored on any Palm OS 5 handheld. It encrypts and compresses all data placed in created virtual disk on your PDA device.

Disk Manager is able to create "protected" card on your Palm card or any existing External card and this card is protected with password that no one can break.

And what is more -- thanks to the compression you can easily increase the capacity of your Palm.


Disk Manager Features:

Create virtual storage cards on your PDA
Allocate space for virtual storage card in heap memory, storage memory or on other storage card (SD, Memory Stick, etc.)
Compress data stored on virtual storage card
Protect virtual storage card with password
Encrypt data stored on virtual storage card with strong unbreakable cryptographic algorithm (AES 128 bit key, AES 256 bit key)

Disk Manager is a powerful utility helping users to protect confidential data stored in their PDA device. Disk Manager solves the problem when someone steals your device.

[Dragwyr]

Eurisko, I am running Launcher X and TealScript. I've turned off TealScript and still had the problem. For me it's not that big a deal to drop PDA Defense Pro at this point. I'll probably try it again at a later time.