A friend's work Blackberry is configured so that phone and Internet access are disabled while the device is charging. I assumed this was a fault, but apparently it's a deliberate security policy.
Has anyone encountered this kind of policy before? And does anyone know what the security benefits are supposed to be?
Has anyone encountered this kind of policy before?
And does anyone know what the security benefits are supposed to be?
The security benefit is that the devices exposure is greatly reduced with little cost in terms of availability.
In security the risk to a given asset is described by three factors: threats, vulnerabilities and exposure.
The Blackberry is exposed to a wider threat environment whenever it is remotely accessible. That is whenever the network capabilities of the device are active; a threat (person) could attempt to remotely gain unauthorized access to the device. If the network capabilities of the device are inactive then a thread (person) must be physically adjacent to the device in order to gain access. Generally users do not like to lose network access, but when the user is charging the device, they are typically not using it. Most mobile devices get charged over night when their users are sleeping.
Additionally, if a threat was to attempt to access the device remotely and the user was interacting with the device they may notice some odd behavior. If the user is not interacting with the device they would not be able to observe any anomalies due to a remote threat.
I've come across various policies like this, but not specifically for Blackberries. The only theory I've seen is that while the device is charging it's in a potentially vulnerable spot where notbody is watching it, therefore it's easier to attack.
I'm sure there are crazier and/or more sane reasons. In some cases it made sense.
In this particular case I call BS on it because it's no more vulnerable plugged in than in ones pocket.
I would assume this type of policy would be put into place to help safeguard data on the device as well as that within their corporate network. It is more than likely connected to a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server), custom APN, or VPN or all of the above provided by the carrier.
My guess is their IT don't want people meddling around on a device via USB. Such policies would more or less prohibit tethering as well as any backdoor attempts to reload or issue commands to the device while it is connected to the network.
If you require a way to charge the device while using it and without losing network access you might consider attaching something to charge the battery directly without the use of USB ports. Some models of berries include contacts on the back for use with charging docks while others have pack panels that are exchangeable for non-OEM products like charge mats.
