jhitt25

So, i was one of the lucky ones that updated to 1.2 without a single problem. Quite coincidentally, on the same day (yesterday) we were testing Exchange features at work and i quite unfortunately allowed them to test on my personal Palm Pre. If you connect your Pre to an Exchange server, beware! The Exchange admins will have full ability to remotely wipe your Pre, including everything in the Flash storage! Exchange has a remote kill command that the Pre's ActiveSync software recognizes completely, with no apparent way to disable it and no warning of it when you connect!

Also of note - If you initiate this wipe from Exchange, the wipe will be in an endless loop until you disable it on the Exchange server. The phone will erase, you will reconnect to your Palm Profile, the Pre will sync with Exchange and will start to wipe again until the wipe command is de-activated on the Exchange server.

I spent an entire evening and a morning on the phone with Palm support getting all this information...loads of fun.

I would highly suggest to Palm that they put a notification of this feature in the Exchange account creation, or add the ability to disable the Exchange remote wipe feature from the Pre.

donatom3

Yeah this is a feature of exchange. Not to different on how exchange can completely wipe an iPhone or Windows Mobile phone. In today's world where companies need to protect their information this is understandable.

The only difference of the Pre is the fact that it automatically resyncs with exchange after a restore and will get wiped again.

If they disabled exchanged remote wipe, then alot of companies would not approve Pres on their exchange servers, and then Palm would be missing out on a bigger market.

What it should do instead is ask you if you want to sync with your exchange account when you do a restore. This way you can click no not get stuck in the endless loop until your IT department turns off the killswitch on your phone.

zeravla531

I believe its part of your company's security policies that you opt into when you use Exchange, nothing to do with Palm really.

I know that's out a BES on Blackberry works. If your have a BES on your Blackberry, you acknowledge their company's security policies which can override your Blackberry and disable things, push things, and kill your Blackberry if they need to.

I'm pretty sure it's the same with Exchange. In other words, if you do not like it, do not allow your business email/calendar/etc on your personal phone.

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oddlou

One, you are one of the great majority of people that updated without problems. Two, the remote wipe feature of EAS is one of the things that many businesses require for a phone to be able to access their network. Doesn't really have much to do with Palm, as stated above. It's really a company issue/decision.

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Travelmind

This password need everytime my phone goes blank is crazy... I'm sure I've had to enter my password in over 100 times today... Some will have to figure out away to get around this or to make it so the password is not needed every time. At this point I'm almost ready to take my phone back.

jrstinkfish

Patch WebOS Bypassing Lock Screen - WebOS Internals

Works like a charm. You'll need to use WebOS Quick Install, but it takes less than a minute to do this.

donatom3

You need to find out from your company what their timeout on the password is. I have heard though that the Pre doesn't let you set that timeout and it does it automatically everytime the screen is turned off.

GMoney749

Yeah, but wouldn't that also mean that the person who stole/found your device doesn't have to worry about getting stuck in that loop as well?

He only got stuck in the loop because it was a test and he still has the device. That's not the point of the remote wipe.

If someone gets a hold of my Pre, I would hope it would continue wiping every time they turned it on.

CGK

Again, that an EAS thing.

People seem to be a bit confused about this, when you put your company EAS on your machine, you are effectively notifying them that you agree and will confirm to their security policies and giving them the right to hit the kit switch when they like.

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jhitt25

I'm not confused about the need for this feature for a company...i agree completely with that. The part i disagree with is that there is no warning that this feature is in effect before connecting you to EAS. Maybe just a little warning before it completes the account addition would be nice.

donatom3

He got stuck in his companies IT killswitch loop. Plus the person who stole his phone after it was wiped would still need his palm profile password to get in, at which point he could wipe the phone again.

I'm just saying they would do this for the scenario where on Friday afternoon someone from IT messes up puts that kill order into your phone and all weekend you can't use it cuz your palm profile keeps signing back into exchange upon restore.

ksom

Can some EAS expert help one of my question?

If I were to remove my exchange account from my Pre before my company does a remote wipe, would that still leave something open for them to do that?

My company informed me that they can remotely remove beyond exchange information from my phone. I have no problem with that, just wonder if there is way I can prepare for such an event in case I change phone.

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CGK

i can't see how - once you remove the exchange account, they have no way in.

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Spyre

That's really not something that would just accidentally be put in, it is a deliberate step.

ryleyinstl

As an IT Admin myself I can also agree with others above that it's the responsibility of your IT folks to talk with you about the remote wipe, not PALM. A warning could allow time for circumventing such safety measures.

Furthermore, allowing the phone user to disable the remote wipe would make it completely pointless and serves as an example as to why it is necessary in the first place.

GMoney749

I see what you're saying.

donatom3

No but let's not pretend that a ****ed off employee who's going to quit who happens to hate you couldn't think of doing this before he leaves and say "oops".

bobwonderful

That's why you don't **** off your IT admin. On the other hand this feature is something which businesses expect for support of smartphones and controlling information for compliance reasons.

Spyre

That same guy could do a whole lot worse to you if he has all the keys to the system. Also, most aren't that stupid. If you are that concerned, as we said, do not connect your personal phone to the Exchange system. I've had clients who have lost phones and the remote wipe did exactly what was needed. The liability of the content of emails on that phone can be a big deal depending on the industry your company is in. A lost/stolen phone is of much, much, much greater concern than some vague theory of an IT guy at your work who happens to be leaving and happens to hate you and happens to want to of all things wipe your phone and open himself up to that liability. There are a lot of laws covering reporting that publicly held companies have to follow about information loss. You just need to look at the bigger picture.

donatom3

I'm not saying Palm block the remote wipe. What I'm saying is that after a remote wipe, when you do your restore, you're given the option of choosing when to sync for the first time after the wipe with your EAS server.

This way the user can continue using their pre for personal use without endangering their company's info