Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) Vs Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES)

Blackberry is a wide range of mobile devices owned by a Canadian company, ‘Research In Motion’ (RIM). Blackberry’s main targets are people whose internet usage is high. These are generally businessmen, corporate executives, professionals, lawyers, etc.


BIS stand for Blackberry Internet Service and it is offered free when you purchase a data plan of any blackberry phone. BIS facilitates a blackberry customer with internet browsing, e-mail checking, online chatting, etc. A BIS account is created for you where you can integrate up to 10 e-mail accounts. You can visit the following websites to create an account for yourself if you have purchased a new blackberry phone:

AT&T: https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=mycingular

Nextel: https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=nextel

Sprint: https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=sprint

T-Mobile: https://my.t-mobile.com/Login/Default.aspx

Verizon: https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=vzw

Optus (Australia): https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=vzw

Telstra (Australia): https://bis.ap.blackberry.com/html/?brand=telstra

Three (Australia): https://bis.ap.blackberry.com/html/?brand=three

All you need to do is create an account and attach it to your webmail site and mailbox. This process does not take more than 15 minutes. It is basically a free version of blackberry software and has no centralized management. Each device needs to be managed individually.

People generally get confused between BIS and BIS. Let me explain what BES is, to make things clear.

BES or Blackberry Enterprise Server is a software package that operates as a centralized link between wireless mobile devices, enterprise applications and wireless networks. This is mainly designed to meet the needs of enterprise. With this software you can have access to all your e-mails, contacts, calendar, memo, schedules, tasks, etc. It is costlier than BIS but management will be much easier. Companies are advised to purchase this software if there are at least 10 blackberries in the office. This device helps to include wipe and lock command in case your phone gets stolen. Let me brief you up with some of the key feature of BES:

• Forwards e-mail from your corporate ID

• Compatible with Microsoft® exchange, IBM® Lotus® Domino®, Novell® GroupWise®

• You can view your MS office attachment

• Browse your websites as per corporate policy.

• Provides access to personal information management tools such as calendar and address book.

• It contains Integrated Security Triple Data Encryption Standard (DES) or Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to protect confidentiality of data.

• You can instantly synchronize data and organize and update your calendar.

• Wireless automatic backup to BlackBerry 8830 device setting and preferences over the wireless network.

Even though you have hosted BIS on your own BES server, RIM receive all communications as it is a centralized delivery. This has led to security issues as RIM is a Canadian company and US government feels that important and sensitive messages are going out of the country. However, RIM issues security patches for Blackberry phones for higher security. It asked corporate customers to install an interim patch for the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and an interim patch for the BlackBerry Professional Software. RIM also advised BlackBerry users to open PDF attachments only from "trusted sources”.

- Brian Kingsley, Director of Technical Services, ACS Services, Boston

http://www.acs.com/

Massachusetts 201 CMR 17.00 - Deadline extended

201 CMR 17.00 is a Massachusetts data protection law managed by ‘Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation’ (OCABR). It contains the ‘Standards for the Protection of Personal Information of Residents of the Commonwealth’. The provisions of this regulation applies to all who own, store, license or maintain any personal information about a resident of the Commonwealth. This regulation is established to safeguard the personal information contained in paper and electronic records. The other purposes for this regulation can be:

• Maintain the security and confidentiality of personal information in a manner that is consistent with industry standards.
• Protection against threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such information.
• Protection against unauthorized access to personal information.

The law was supposed to go into effect on January 1, 2009 but due to some changes which are being made to the new version it has been postponed to May 1, 2010. Also some additional time has also been granted to business people to comply with the ‘Identity Theft Preventive Regulations’. Identification of fraud and theft will be easier after the implementation of this law. This law is basically for retailers and businesses involved in commerce as they are the ones who store and use personal information of residents of Commonwealth. If any personal information of a Massachusetts’s resident is leaked or misused, there could be serious actions taken against the business and people associated with the business.

According to the regulation, companies involved in commerce are required to maintain a written security plan to safeguard the personal information of the residents of Massachusetts. The following points will be considered to see whether the information security program is in compliance with the regulations:
• Size, scope and type of business of the person obliged to protect the personal information.
• Amount of resources available to such persons.
• Amount of stored data.
• Need for security and confidentiality of personal information of the residents.

To find more information about this protection law, you can visit the following websites:

http://www.mass.gov/pageID=ocaterminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Consumer&L2=Privacy&L3=Identity+Theft&sid=Eoca&b=terminalcontent&f=reg201cmr17&csid=Eoca

http://www.mass.gov/Eoca/docs/idtheft/compliance_checklist.pdf


Brian Kingsley – Director of Technical Services

Spamming World

Spam is an electronic messaging system that is used by individuals, frauds and companies to send e-mails in bulk. It can be used to spread computer viruses like Trojan horses and other software, etc. The most common is e-mail spam whereas there are many other media such as mobile phone messaging spamming, search engine spam, forum spam, social networking spam, etc. It is highly annoying for the recipient of the spam as too many junk e-mails reduce the visibility of important e-mails and hence an important message can be overlooked which might sometimes cost a lot. Mainly advertisers and frauds use e-mail spamming as it does not involve operating costs and it has no/ less barriers to entry. The only thing they have to do is compose a spam e-mail and send it across to innumerable e-mail IDs. The only people who suffer are the recipient of these e-mails.

The reasons why spam is considered to be ‘bad’ are that they are innumerous; they are offensive and fake. Statistics reveal that large ISPs (Internet Service Providers) notice more than 80% spammers. With this huge number of spam e-mails, meaningful and important e-mails are lost. Filtering e-mails are also not so effective now-a-days. Identification of spam messages has become difficult. I will give you a very simple example to explain the impact of spam on people. If suppose a bank is sending thousands of e-mails, mobile phone messages, etc to its customers on a regular basis, the customers will feel annoyed and will stop giving importance to these spam messages. Even if any important message will be sent by the bank, it will be ignored by the customer as he/she might feel that it is a spam. This drawback will then be suffered by both bank and the customer. Hence, sending spam messages will only trouble the recipient and waste the sender’s time.

To identify a real message one must check its sender’s authentication. But usually it’s difficult to trace and compare a fake and an original ID. A 2007 statistical analysis showed that USA contributed around 28.4% for the total number of spam messages sent worldwide. There are many court cases running for the e-mail spamming done by various companies and they have been sent to prison or have given a huge sum of money for settlement of the case. However, there is no end to it. The only way to avoid spam messages is to report abuse and ignore the spam notices and warnings. A highly secured network will also help reduce spam e-mails. Spam still exists and is still difficult to find a solution to it. We can try and make incremental progress and can individually contribute little to reduce the number.

Brian Kingsley - Director of Technical Services

IT Outsourcing

Technology, in a layman’s language, is a concept that simplifies the tasks handled by human being. It helps man to control his work and environment with less complexity. He uses much of his brain rather than body. Technology can be used in fields of medical, construction, hardware, software, etc. Early man converted natural resources into simple tools, which were later converted into big machines and presently a sophisticated and easy to handle machines. This is how technology advanced day-by-day. The most common term used in the field of technology is ‘Information Technology’. It is the result of the combination of computer and communications technology.

The latest trend in the IT sector is the boom in outsourcing. It is in boom as it requires a lot of technical expertise and skills. So, companies contact IT giants to outsource their computer or internet related work. It simplifies their task, helps them save cost and also relieve them from the strenuous hiring procedure for technical people. An IT service provider is typically known as a Managed Services Provider (MSP). Most of the IT companies specialize in providing a set of outsourcing services to their clients. They take the entire responsibility of the client’s entire computer and internet related tasks at a very reasonable price with extreme knowledge and expertise.

Since 1985 ACS has been a name you can trust when it comes to IT Managed Services and Outsourced Support. We at ACS accept IT outsourcing work from our clients and are committed to give them the best possible services. We have a solid foundation and over 20 years experience in Managed IT Services. Our complete proactive Managed Services team is available to meet your every network need 24x7x365. Our services include; Network Support, Server Support, PC Support, Help Desk Services, Relocation Support, Set up and Configuration and many more. We believe in providing excellent and reliable services for a less price. We accept work from small and mid-sized companies and provide them with the IT support they need. Our engineers are available whenever you need them. So, if you have any technical work which you find difficult or expensive, we are ready to take it up and put in our best efforts to deliver the desired results.
For more information on ACS Services, please visit:
http://www.acs.com/

Brian Kingsley - Director of Technical Services