Product Facts · Pocket LOOX 600 · Issue September 2002
Page 7 of 11
Authentication.
Accessing corporate networks or restricted Internet sites requires support for secure authentication protocols. These
include dial-up authentication using Windows NT® Challenge/Response and optionally SecureID card support,
authentication when accessing a secure Web site with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, fingerprint
authentication, picture-based passwords, and signature authentication for certain applications. Pocket PC 2002 supports
both 4-digit and strong alphanumeric power-on passwords. Each time an incorrect password is attempted, a time delay
that increases exponentially is enforced. The File Explorer application has new support for accessing shared Windows-
based file servers. User authentication is required for accessing these servers.
Networking security
To encrypt data for protection from unauthorized access, a device must support industry-standard 40-bit or 128-bit
encryption or be able to use a corporate standard encryption technique that can plug into the industry-standard
CryptoAPI. Data is also encrypted when using the Internet to connect to a corporate server using a virtual private
networking protocol (e.g., PPTP or IPSec). Pocket PC 2002 now includes support for the Point-to-Point Tunneling VPN
Protocol. Additional VPN protocol support is available from third parties.
The static shared-key Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) algorithm has now been documented by researchers at the
University of California to be easily defeated. As a result, this means alternative approaches are necessary for securely
connecting over 802.11b wireless LANs using Pocket PCs. These two secure alternatives are available today:
VPN:
In the first approach, the 802.11b access points can be directly connected to the Internet. Virtual Private Networking
software on the Pocket PC can then be used to authenticate the user and provide a strongly encrypted connection to an
organization’s network.
LEAP:
The second approach is done with the 802.11b access points connecting directly to an organization’s internal network.
Cisco offers an authentication scheme based on the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) called EAP-Cisco Wireless
or LEAP. This uses the 802.1x draft standard as a foundation and adds modifications necessary for wireless LANs.
Virus scanning.
Anti-virus products are now available from a number of companies. The latest Pocket PC 2002 version contains an anti-
virus API designed by feedback from software companies creating virus-scanning products. This is intended to simplify
their process for finding new potential viruses by easily detecting new files coming onto the device through different
mechanisms (e.g., attached to e-mail, cut and paste from a network file server, etc.) These products are intended to
prevent known viruses from being passed into the corporate network via a Windows Powered mobile device.
Applications
Pocket Excel and Pocket Word are integrated into the operating system. This allows viewing documents and making
changes while away from the PC. Other applications are amongst others Media- and Video players (for MP3 and
MPEG4)
Through the open nature of the Pocket PC Operating System, many third-party applications,e.g. car-navigation or
database systems run on Pocket LOOX. With Pocket Outlook, a powerful organizer is also embedded. Not only does it
keep track of appointments, with several reminder functions, it also manages contacts and tasks.
The GSM/GPRS module gets its phonebook out of the Pocket Outlook Contacts. No need to enter phone numbers
separately.
