Managing Your Palm OS Security
The following sections contain some simple things you can do to ensure your Palm security.
Assign a Password
First, assign a password to your device:
Use the Palm Launcher to go in the Security application.
Enter your password and a hint to remind you of what it is.
Confirm your new password when prompted. Now you can lock your handheld whenever you want by going into the Security application and choosing Lock and Turn Off.
If you want to make it easier to lock your device, go into the Prefs application, choose Buttons, and then click the Pen button.
Select Turn off and lock. To lock the device this way, just run your pen from the Graffiti area up to the top of the screen.
Set Your Device to Lock Periodically
To set your device to lock periodically:
From the same Security screen, select Auto Lock Handheld.
Choose either a preset time of day or preset number of elapsed hours or minutes before the device locks automatically.
Note: You want a period of time long enough that you aren't constantly entering your password, but short enough that if you were to lose or misplace your Palm, odds are good that it would be locked down before anyone could get access to your information.
Hide or Mask Private Records
All of the built-in Palm applications (Datebook, Address Book, To-Do List, Memo Pad) and many third-party applications allow you to mark records as private. By default, these records display just like any other non-private record.
To mark records as private:
Go into the Security application.
Under Current Privacy, select either Mask Records or Hide Records. This hides or masks those records on your Palm and requires you to enter your password to view them.
Encrypt Your Data
While all of the above techniques are good for protecting the information on your PDA, they do nothing to protect the data stored on your expansion card. Anyone can take the expansion card out of your PDA and use another PDA or a PC card reader and access all of your sensitive data. Even if you don't store any sensitive documents on your expansion card, if you ever perform a backup to the card, all of your PIM Data (Datebook, Address Book, To-Do List, Memo Pad items) is unsecured.
If you have a Palm OS 5 device, you can install a security update that adds encryption capability to your device. You can specify what data gets encrypted and when.