BlackBerry 10 Synchronization Issues

Calendar Bug Affects iOS 6.1 Device Battery Life

1. Go to Settings --> Mail, Contacts, Calendars
2. Select the Exchange account from your Accounts list.
3. Turn the switch for Calendars to OFF.
4. Wait ten seconds.
5. Turn the switch for Calendars back to ON.

The iPhone Email Client Is Nice But I Want More

The makers of Touchdown for Exchange for Android have recently released a version for iOS, as well as a beta for Windows 8 and Windows RT. Touchdown is a robust email client that can be used as an alternative to the default mail client to synchronize your AppRiver Exchange account data with your mobile device.

Your iPhone Was Here And Here And Here

Your iPhone is not good at keeping secrets when it comes to the wi-fi roads it has traveled. Security professional Mark Wuergler (@MarkWuergler), recently found iPhone behavior that is a reason for concern. He discovered that the iPhone broadcasts the MAC addresses of the last three wireless access points it connected to. In fact, further investigation revealed that any Apple device with Wi-Fi capabilities broadcasts this information. Blackberry and Android devices were also tested, but found to not exhibit this behavior.

It is suspected that Apple purposely designed its devices to behave this way in order to facilitate the wi-fi connection process when within range of an access point they frequently access. However, it also opens the door for anyone who may have targeted a device's owner. This information can be obtained easily by monitoring over-the-air traffic when in close proximity, such as in a coffee shop. Mr. Wuergler has developed an application, appropriately called "Stalker", that collects this information, as well as passwords, pictures, email, and any other data that is sent over an unencrypted access point. The access point's location can be determined by searching for its MAC address in geo databases, such as Google Maps, Wigle.net, or Skyhook. With a little bit of investigation, someone sorting through this data could determine the owner's place of employment, where they live, or places they frequent, especially if the SSID for the access point offers a clue.

It is not known at this time if Apple plans to address the issue with an operating system update. For those that are concerned about this vulnerability, Mr. Wuergler suggest you delete your wireless profiles periodically, turn off the wi-fi service when not in use, and be mindful of the amount of personal data you store on your device. Also, making sure you connect to web sites using using HTTPS or employing a VPN will help keep your data protected.

You can read more about this issue here.

Jim Rhodes is a Mobility Solutions Engineer for AppRiver, a leading hosted Exchange and e-mail security provider.

Fear the Reaver, It Can Discover Your Wi Fi Password

Setting up a wi-fi network used to be a daunting task for the average user. People would spend countless hours in frustration and be assaulted with terms such as DHCP, DNS, administration console, and WPA passwords. If you didn't encrypt your wireless network your neighbors could use Fire Sheep to login to your personal accounts. Enter the Wi-Fi Alliance and now anyone can have their wireless network up and running securely in no time. However, this simplified process has introduced a new security vulnerability found in many of today's routers.

The root of the problem is a feature called Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). This is part of a set of requirements a device must meet to be "certified" by the Wi-Fi Alliance and be able to place this coveted stamp on a box. There are four different methods that can be used for WPS. One of them is the PIN method, which every certified product has to support. An 8-digit PIN is assigned to the router and a user must enter that PIN when attempting to connect a device to the network using WPS. Statistically, this means there are 10x8 or 100,000,000 million combinations. However, the last digit is a check-sum, so in reality there would be only 10x7 or 10,000,000 variations.

The problem is that WPS authentication protocol breaks the PIN into two 4 digit numbers when verifying. It validates the first four numbers first. Once that number has been authenticated, it goes on to verify the next 3 numbers (remember the last number is a checksum). This significantly reduces the combination possibilities from 10x7 to 10x4 or 10,000 for the first half and 10x3 or 1,000 for the second set of numbers. A device is allowed 3 attempts to connect before it is locked out for period of 1 minute. This can slow down a brute force attack. To be successful an attacker only needs to make 11,000 attempts to gain access vs. 10,000,000, because of this flaw. Lifehacker recently documented how to use the brute force application Reaver in an attack. Test using this application have shown that the PIN can be discovered on average within 4-10 hours. Once the PIN is obtained, the program is able to retrieve the WPA-PSK pre-shared key and obtain network access.

The good news is that in most cases, WPS can be disabled in the router settings. By default, this setting is enabled. However, disabling does not appear to be an option on Linksys/CISCO routers. The only way to get around this is to flash to a non-WPS ROM. This is probably something an average user would not want to attempt. It is anticipated that there will be firmware updates coming from the various router manufacturers in the near future that will the remove the "check 4, then check 3" flaw, thereby making a brute force attack less feasible.

A list of vulnerable devices can be found here.

Jim Rhodes is a Mobility Solutions Engineer for AppRiver, a leading Hosted Exchange and e-mail security provider.

Update: Cisco (Linksys) has released a knowledge base article regarding the WPS vulnerability that exists in some of its routers. As noted in my original post, the WPS feature cannot be disabled on some Cisco products. This article clarifies which devices are affected and when they will receive an update to resolve the issue.

An Android "Divided" Against Itself ... Can Stand

If your job requires you to carry a company provided mobile device, maybe this thought has crossed your mind.

"Can I use my personal smart phone instead?"

It was undoubtedly followed up with another thought, "If I can, do I want to?"

On the flip side, network administrators are faced with a similar dilemma. They could keep a tight reign on network security by only allowing the use of company provided mobile devices or not allowing mobile access at all. However, the exponential growth of the mobile workforce is causing IT departments to re-examine their security policies and a growing number of companies are now allowing their employees to use their personal devices. There are advantages for both sides. Businesses are able to reduce expenses by not having to purchase hardware for employees. Employees can avoid having to carry a separate phone for work and are able to use the platform of their choice. Some may even get the added benefit of having their employer pay all or a portion of the monthly service charge.

With these benefits comes a big question. What about data security? Administrators want to know company data is secure and if something happens to the device that it can be removed quickly. End users will have to surrender some control of their device so this can be accomplished. Even if the employee is willing to do this there are other factors that must be considered. Some email server platforms have remote wipe capability built into them (e.g. Exchange & Groupwise), but others do not. If this feature is not available, it can most likely be implemented via a third party application. Then there is the legal aspect of remote wiping. How much control over an employee's personal device should the company have? For example, in some countries it is illegal for a company to delete any personal data.

The developer ecosystem is addressing the growing need for mobile compartmentalization by coming up with apps that offer options for segmentation. One of these options is virtualization. An early front runner in the Android arena is Divide by Enterpoid. The program enables two profiles to exist on one device. The one you have been using remains as your "personal" profile. A second profile called "work" is created with its own suite of productivity apps, including an e-mail client, calendar, address book, text messaging, and tasks. The tasks app may be of interest to some Exchange users since the stock Android client does not sync tasks. If the user has any personal apps they would like to use in their work profile, they can be whitelisted in the application.

Switching between the two profiles is easily done by clicking on the designated icon. The user does not need to worry about missing something by staying in either profile because app notifications are visible on both sides.

When it comes to data security Divide addresses the apprehension of allowing a corporate administrator the ability to reset the device. If a wipe command is sent to the device, only the work profile is reset. The work profile is also encrypted meaning no other app from the Market can access it. The developer also states that "browsing and app data will be kept from your company". The device can be managed remotely by the user from a web interface. There is also a web app for IT admins to configure and deploy policies to multiple devices, as well as handle other management duties.

The app is still in beta at this time, but you can try it by applying here.

Jim Rhodes is a Mobility Solutions Engineer for AppRiver, a leading hosted Exchange and e-mail security provider.

iSwear My iOS 5 Battery Life Is Much Shorter

There are reports that some users who have upgraded to iOS 5 are experiencing major battery-life issues. It appears that it is affecting iPhone and iPad users more so than those who have an iPod Touch. There are some new features that have been added to iOS that may cause higher power consumption. With these additions shorter battery life is to be expected, but not at the accelerated levels that are being seen on some devices. There is no "official word" as to the cause at this point, but fingers have been pointed at e-mail, location services, and iCloud, as potential culprits. Here are are a few suggestions to address this problem if you encounter it on your device.

Step 1

Make sure all your apps are up to date. Go to the App Store on your device and select Updates. The number of available updates should be displayed, and you may wish to connect to Wi-fi for these updates to avoid data overages. Once all of your updates have been applied, restart your device by holding the Home and Lock buttons until you see the Apple logo. Monitor your battery usage to see if this resolves the issue.

Step 2

Try toggling these settings individually to determine if they may be causing your battery to drain faster than normal. You can also turn this all off and toggle back on individually if you prefer.

Disable Diagnostic & Usage Reports: 
Tap on “Settings” > General > About > Diagnostic & Usage > Don’t Send

Disable Time Zone Adjustment: 
Tap on “Settings” > “Location Services” > ‘System Services’ > Setting Time Zone to OFF

Disable Ping: 
Settings > General > Restrictions > Enable Restrictions > Ping > OFF

Reset Network Settings:
Tap on “Settings” > Reset > Reset Network Settings

Disable Bluetooth:
Settings > General > Bluetooth > “OFF”

Disable Notifications & Apps in Notification Center:
Settings > Notifications > Turn OFF for anything you don’t need

Disable iCloud:
Settings > General > iCloud > Turn everything to OFF

Disable Location Services:
Settings > Location Services > Disable selectively for services you don’t use

Delete eMail Accounts, Reset Network Settings, Re-add eMail Accounts:

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Delete your email accounts by going to “Settings” > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Account Name > Delete Account.
2. Now Reset Network Settings in “Settings > Reset > Reset Network Settings
3. Reboot the iOS device.
4. Re-add email accounts back in “Settings” > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account

Step 3

As a last resort, it has been suggested that restoring the device via iTunes might resolve the issue. Make sure you have performed a complete backup of your device before proceeding.

These simple steps should get the batteries in your iOS device back on track.

Jim Rhodes is a Mobility Solutions Engineer for AppRiver, a leading hosted Exchange and e-mail security provider.

Transferring Local Data from iOS Devices to Exchange

Every now and then I get a call from an iOS user that has unknowingly discovered a common issue while using their iPhone/iPad. They tell me that they have created a calendar event or contact on their device that does not appear in their Exchange account. After some investigation, the answer is usually the same. The item(s) in question have been stored in the device's local calendar or address book. The next question is invariably "Can I move it to my Exchange account?"

The answer is yes, but it will require some work. The item details cannot be modified to directly transfer the item to Exchange from the device. The process is a little more involved. It requires exporting the local data to Outlook via iTunes and then importing back into the Exchange account with the Outlook PST file. Here are the details.

STEP 1. DETERMINE IF THERE IS LOCAL DATA ON THE PHONE

To determine if calendar events and/or contacts have been stored locally on the device, look at the appropriate screens for each type of item. For the calendar, go to the calendar app and click the “calendars” button in the top left corner. You will then see a screen similar to this:

If there is a section called “From MY PC”, then there are local calendar items stored on the device.

For contacts, go to the contacts app and click the “groups” button in the top left corner. You will then see a screen similar to this:

If there is a section called "From MY PC", then there are local contacts stored on the device.

STEP 2. EXPORTING THE LOCAL DATA
To export these items, the user will need to have the current versions of Outlook and iTunes installed on their computer. Once this is done, complete the following steps.

1) Create a blank profile in Outlook. First, close Outlook if it is open. Then, in Windows, go to Start --> Control Panel --> Mail.

2) Go to the profiles section and choose to create a new profile by clicking the Add button.

3) Choose a name for the profile.

4) Outlook will then try to configure an e-mail account for the profile. Click the cancel button. 



5) A prompt will come up and ask if you want to create a profile with no e-mail accounts. Click the ok button.



6) You will be returned to the profile screen. If there is more than one profile listed, choose to use the blank profile in the "Always use" option and then click the ok button.



7) Launch Outlook.



8) An Outlook startup screen will appear. Click the next button.



9) There will be another option to add e-mail accounts for this profile. Choose "no" and click the next button.



10) The next screen will have the heading "Create Data File". Click the option to continue with no e-mail support and then click the finish button.

11) Launch iTunes and attach the iOS device via USB cable.

12) Highlight the device in the left hand menu and then choose the "Info" heading in the top menu.



13) Choose to contacts and/or calendar with Outlook, which is listed in the pull down menu. You can choose to synchronize all items or select groups. Click the Apply button in the lower right hand corner. This will only synchronize local data on the device. Any calendar/contact information from other accounts that have been added to the device (i.e. Exchange) WILL NOT synchronize. Click the Sync button in the lower right hand corner. The iTunes will begin to synchronize the data and notify you when it is complete in the top window.



14) Once this is done, the device may be removed by clicking the eject arrow next to it in the left menu.



15) Outlook should now show the local data in the appropriate section. In Outlook, choose the Import/Export option.



16) Choose to "Export to a file". Click next.



17) Choose to export to "Personal Folder File (.pst)". Click next.



18) Select the appropriate folder type that needs to be exported and choose the "include subfolders" option, if needed. Click next.



19) Then choose a path and file name for the PST file to be stored under. Click next.



20) Click the Finish button. You will get the option to add a password for the PST file. This can be bypassed by clicking the OK button. The PST file will be created under the path you selected.



21) Close Outlook.


IMPORT THE LOCAL DATA
Once the data has been exported, it needs to be imported into the user's Exchange profile. To complete this, do the following.

1) First, close Outlook, if it is open. Then, in Windows, Go to Start --> Control Panel--> Mail.



2) Choose profiles and change the "Always Use" option back to the user's Exchange profile. If there is no user profile, create a new profile and configure it to access their Exchange account. Then set Outlook to use that profile when it starts.



3) Launch Outlook.



4) Choose the Import/Export option.

5) Choose to "Import from another program or file". Click next.



6) Choose to import from "Personal Folder File (.pst)". Click next.



7) Browse to the path where the PST file was created and highlight it. Click the Open button.



8) Verify the correct file is selected and click the Next button.



9) Highlight the data folder that needs to be imported and selected the "Include subfolders" button, if needed. If the entire data folder needs to be imported, highlight "Personal Folders". Make sure the option "Import items into the same folder in Mailbox - *user's name*" is selected. Click the Finish button.

10) The data will be imported into the user's Exchange profile.



11) Once the status bar at the bottom says "All folders are up to date", the new data has synchronized to the Exchange server. Verify this by logging into Outlook Web Access and confirming it is there.

STEP 4. DELETE THE LOCAL DATA

Once it is verified that the data is there, the local contacts and calendar information can be removed using iTunes. If you choose to leave it on the phone, you will have duplicate entries. To remove them, complete the following steps.



1) Close Outlook.



2) Go to Start --> Control Panel --> Mail.

3) Choose profiles and change the "Always Use" option back to the blank profile and click OK.



4) Launch Outlook.



5) Launch iTunes and attach the iOS device via USB cable.



6) Highlight the device in the left hand menu and then choose the "Info" heading in the top menu.



7) Deselect the options to sync contacts and/or calendar. For each selection there will be a prompt asking if the data should be removed from the device. ONCE THE CHOICE IS MADE TO DELETE THE ITEMS THERE WILL BE NO WAY TO RETREIVE THEM. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE RECOVERED ALL OF THE LOCAL CALENDAR/CONTACT DATA YOU WANTED BEFORE CONTINUING.



8) Click the Apply button in the lower right hand corner.

9) Click the Sync button in the lower right hand corner.

10) Once this is done, the device may be removed by clicking the eject arrow next to it in the left menu.



11) Close iTunes.



12) Close Outlook.



13) Go to Start --> Control Panel --> Mail.



14) Choose profiles and change the "Always Use" option back to the user's Exchange profile and click OK.

All of the local contacts and/or calendar data should now be removed from the device. New calendar events created on the iOS device should now be stored in the Exchange calendar by default. To assure that new contacts that are created on the device are stored in the Exchange address book, check the default setting for the device. Go to Settings à Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Scroll to the Contacts section and check the "Default Account" setting. If it still says "On My iPhone", click on it and choose "Exchange".

If you need more information about this process, or there are any Mac users that would like the specific info for this process using OS X, feel free to ask me a question in the comments. I can provide additional info in a future post.

Jim Rhodes is a Mobility Solutions Engineer for AppRiver, a leading hosted Exchange and e-mail security provider.

Has Your Phone Stopped Syncing? Better Check Those Folder Item Counts

If you are the owner of a smart phone that uses ActiveSync to connect to Exchange (i.e. Android, iPhone, Windows Phone 7), it is possible your device could suffer from information overload and stop synchronizing your Exchange data altogether. The culprit in these instances is too many items in a mailbox folder. Although AppRiver does not impose mailbox size limits on its hosted Exchange customers, Microsoft does have recommended guidelines for mailboxes that are being accessed via ActiveSync. These guidelines are based on item counts, not actual storage size. The limits depend on the version of Exchange in use. Here are the guidelines for Exchange 2007.

• Calendar – 5,000 items
• Contacts – 5,000 items
• Deleted items – 20,000 items
• Inbox – 20,000 items
• Sent items – 20,000 items
• Other folders created by user – 50,000

To quote Microsoft's TechNet article, which can be found here, ”With properly architected hardware, an acceptable user experience can still be maintained with item counts as high as 20,000 items (5,000 calendar/contact items). This recommended maximum also depends on the performance capability of your Exchange environment. Your specific hardware choices may result in lower maximum numbers. Ideally, it is best to keep the Inbox and Sent Items folders less than 20,000 items, and the Contacts and Calendar item counts less than 5,000.”

These are not definitive numbers. I help customers on weekly basis that are exceeding these limits and having problems getting their phone to sync. Your phone may continue to sync items to folders larger than this for a time, but eventually you will start to see synchronization failures. The limits for users on servers using Exchange 2003 is a bit different. The recommended maximum item count for ANY folder on this version is 5,000 items.

If you have crossed the line and your smart phone is refusing to connect, fear not. You do not have to spend a day "spring cleaning" your mailbox to get your device working again. Simply create a new sub-folder(s) and move the older messages into them. This will allow you to keep them in a safe and secure location, as well as be able to continue to access them no matter where you are.

Jim Rhodes is a Mobility Solutions Engineer for AppRiver, a leading hosted Exchange and e-mail security provider.

Android Wins Quick Draw (Render) Competition Against The iPhone Or Is It The Other Way Around?

Recently, the mobile website optimization company Blaze.io conducted an experiment to determine who had the faster smart phone web browser. The competitors were a Samsung Galaxy S running Android 2.2 and 2 iPhones, one running iOS 4.3, the other running the 4.2 version.

The test was conducted by downloading over 40,000 web pages from Fortune 1000 companies. On average, the iPhones took (3.2 seconds) or 52 percent longer to render full web pages than Android's 2.1 seconds.

Apple is disputing the results stating that the tests did not use their Nitro JavaScript engine. Even if that were factored in, it appears the iPhones would have still come out on the short end because only 15% of the load time involves JavaScript.

According to the report, both operating systems had similar load times for pages that had been optimized for mobile devices.

You can read more about the experiment here.

But iPhone users, fear not. Compuware conducted a test that leans in your favor. According to the study, iPhone loaded pages 17 seconds faster than Android. More on this test can be found here.

The reason for the discrepancy? Browser speed testing is subject to many variables, including your network connection. Until someone is able to conduct these experiments in a controlled environment with identical hardware, the battle will rage on.

Jim Rhodes is a Mobility Solutions Engineer for AppRiver, a leading hosted Exchange and e-mail security provider.