Sync Question

[Diaonic]

I sync a lot of customer data onto a tablet. If I lose my tablet, I want the data to be deleted. How do I do this? I think Exchange SP2 has support for this scenario.

 

[Diaonic]

I guess some a bit of background wouldn't hurt.

We are running:

SBS 2003
ISA 2004
Exchange 2003

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Diaonic
I sync a lot of customer data onto a tablet. If I lose my tablet, I want the data to be deleted. How do I do this? I think Exchange SP2 has support for this scenario.

How would your tablet "know" it has been "lost"? Besides, if someone nefarious (and competent) gets their hands on it, they'll just take out the hard drive, rip an image of it, and copy out whatever files they want.

Encrypt the data securely if you don't want someone else who gets ahold of your system to be able to access it. Or else don't actually save any customer data locally and do everything over the network.

 

[Brazen]

I second the: "how does the tablet know it is lost?" notion. If you want to be sure no one can get your files, use EFS.

A lot of laptops, and therefore maybe tablets also, have the option of password protecting the harddrive (that is the harddrive, not the system) so without putting in a password on boot, the harddrive cannot be accessed, even if it is moved to a different machine.

 

[RebateMonger]

There is a "Remote Wipe" feature in Exchange SP2, but it only works with devices running Windows Mobile 5.0, and those must have the Mobile MSFP. I know of no immediate plans to incorporate these features into any laptops or tablet PCs.

You'll probably have to do file or drive encryption to ensure the data can't be read if someone gets ahold of your hard drive.

 

[spyordie007]

Yup Exchange doesnt have this functionality, nor could it. If the machine is lost than the Exchange server has no way to connect to the machine and enforce it.

You'll want to look into using EFS to encrypt data, just make sure to backup your private key (and/or the data) so you can recover it if need be.

And the Windows Mobile 5 wipe "feature" is a function of the mobile device, not Exchange

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: spyordie007
And the Windows Mobile 5 wipe "feature" is a function of the mobile device, not Exchange

I'm still waiting for Dell to release an MSFP-capable BIOS for my new Dell Axim x51v. The VERY first cell phone to get the MSFP update was the PPC-6700, and that was only released last Friday to Sprint customers.

But, yeah, the remote wipe will only work if the device tries to connect to the Exchange Server. As long as the device stays offline, no wipe can occur. It definitely would be of limited value for a laptop/tablet PC.

 

[stash]

BitLocker will help a lot with this. Today, you can encrypt your docs, your mail, and a few other things. If you are looking to encrypt your mail, encrypt the c:\documents and settings\yourprofile\application data\microsoft\outlook directory.