Attention BlackBerry users! New BlackBerry security settings take effect in February

CHIPS, April-June, 2008

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Stronger and improved security settings were implemented for all Navy Marine Corps Intranet Black- Berry devices in February. These settings comply with mandatory security policies to protect the devices from unauthorized access and to change features that pose potential security vulnerabilities.

Content protection, to comply with Department of the Navy (DON) data-at-rest guidelines for personal digital assistants (PDAs), has been activated, which encrypts the data on the BlackBerry device and has a slight impact on response time as the data is encrypted/decrypted.

Users are now required to have a minimum five-character password, containing at least one alpha and one numeric character. This password must be changed every 90 days.

After five unsuccessful attempts to enter the password, the BlackBerry will be locked and all information will be erased. Users who need to restore their BlackBerry device should contact the NMCI Help Desk (1-866-THE-NMCI).

Highlights of other changes include:

* Content Protection: "Caller ID" will not display when the device is locked

* Lock and Erase Feature: user has five attempts to enter the password correctly

* Owner Name and Information Field: user can update and modify this field

* BlackBerry connected to a USB cable: user can make and receive calls

* Pin-to-Pin Messaging: encrypted and unencrypted capability allowed

* Instant messaging: is not allowed (including BB Messenger)

* Blackberry maps: are now allowed

For a complete list of all changes affecting NMCI BlackBerry devices, as well as the corresponding details and impacts of those changes, go to the NMCI BlackBerry Device Security Settings user tip in the Training section of the NMCI Homeport Web site.

NMCI BlackBerry security settings are based on the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) "Wireless Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) BlackBerry Security Checklist v5, Release 1.2" of May 23, 2007, with additional guidance from the DON Designated Approval Authority, Marine Corps Designated Approval Authority and DON Chief Information Officer.

For additional questions, please contact the NMCI Help Desk (1-866-THE-NMCI).

By the DON Enterprise Services Management Team