Removing IT Policies from Blackberries ...
 

Ugh ... I work in a general GSM store in NYC. We recently recieved ten T-Mobile BlackBerry 7230s, all in great condition, and at an incredible price-point (which I don't believe I can release, but it really cheap.) due to a business being required to downsize (or liquidated, not sure). Anway, we didn't discover until recently that all ten devices are loaded with IT Policies with Call Barring enabled, which means it's totally useless to us, and we can't resell these devices. I've heard about getting a policy.bin file to load onto our BlackBerries, and replacing the policy on the device itself. Assuming I can even get a new policy.bin, and then sync it onto the device (one ... by one, eck), will our customers have an issues on the device later on if they try and activate then on a corperate system. Alteratively, is there anyway to get rid of the damn policy? The original BES was shutdown as far as I know, and I've heard about erasing the security books on the device, but if the original BES is still online, I'm worried a new policy will just be pushed to the device by the original service. I've heard some people successfully removing polices from the method, but I haven't heard much on the method, and I haven't heard ANYTHING on mass resetting IT policy.

You can try wiping the handheld from the device itself. Options, Security, Wipe Handheld Option under menu. You can also wipe the device under application loader just make absolutely sure you don't back it up and restore it.

Wiping a BlackBerry - even using Javaloader - will not remove the IT Policy.
Been documented on this board many, many times.

If they are being sold to a new company using a BES, shouldn't be any worry...only thing is that you MUST security wipe the handheld before activating on the new BES (Options > Security > Wipe Handheld).

Wiping the handheld will not remove the IT policy, but it is needed with 4.0 to allow a new IT policy from a new BES.

There are no tools that can remove the IT policy. Once an IT policy is on a BlackBerry, that BlackBerry will ALWAYS have an IT policy (even if it's just a blank one).

Zro

I'm hosting a guide on this, with the policy.bin file included as a download.

Unlocking the Blackberry

Dan.

A Happy Newbie!!
 

WORKED LIKE A CHARM! Followed the directions on your web site and I know have no IT Policy present and all the programs that I could not get to work before are now working!

You think this is a wise idea?

For people who have been stuck by a ruthless or fraudulent individual by selling an used BB knowing that it had a policy in place that would render the BB a handicapped unit, yes.

If you are on a BES and you attempt to circumvent the policy of the company, you are a bright individual and must realize the price you will pay for doing so. Dan in his post even makes mention of it.

What Dan did is no different that many in here had done alreasy on their own and he just simply shared it. If RIM was a bit more helpful (and believe me that they have not only the means to help, but the ability to search and find out if the unit is clear to be cleared) this would not be needed. I commend Dan for trying to help where many others have turned their head away.

I coomend Dan for doing this and he clearly gives a strong statement regarding what KonTiki just posted.

In my case I let a friend borrow my BB, while I used my Palm Treo, he had it connected to his companies BES. His company was of no help neither was Cingular or RIM. My BB was just about rendered useless to me. Now I can use it again.

Thanks Dan!

Happy now, my 7290 also removed the IT Policy! More love BB now!

Happy BB Camper
 

I spent a week, looking at multiple forums, here and abroad to help delete a policy of a bb I bought on eBay. When I went to your website I was so pleased, you posted such an easy to understand with step by step instructions. My hats off to you.

Dan1e1 - Many thanks for such perfectly worded instructions. About once a year we have a contractor that was using his personal BB and got stuck with our corporate IT policy, your workaround is a HUGE help.

Mark

dan1e1w,

You know you should really open up a paypal account and let people donate if they found your solution helpful... You just might be able to take yourself out to dinner by the end of the week!

-Sam ;)

Just FYI...

I was playing with the BES trial over the weekend and ran into the problem where the default policy disables bluetooth desktop sync. I was able to create a new policy and push it down to re-enable it but when I tried this policy.bin file to actually remove the policy, (which it did), it also turned off the bluetooth synch again.

I guess I have to push a real policy back down to enable it again.

Thanks I was able to bring back two units I bought on ebay....of course they forgot to state anything about the it policyso Thanks a bunch

d

Hi All.

Some guys/girls have been emailing me regarding disabled Bluetooth options. If you're having this problem, could you try the following policy.bin...

http://users.tpg.com.au/dan1e1w/files/bt-policy.bin

This file has two extra properties:

DisableDesktopConnectivity = false
DisableWirelessBypass = false

Could you let me know if this works? - I don't have a Blackberry anymore, haven't been coding on it since xmas :-)

It would be great if someone could try this on a non-Bluetooth Blackberry (like a 7230). If it works for all devices I can safely update the policy.bin on my site, if not, I'll have to host 2 files which might confuse some peeps.

Thank ya,

Dan.

Please be noted that all policy.bin files I've tried, disable the ability to use an external Bluetooth keybaord with a BlackBerry, as far as I've encountered.

Check my post in this thread:
http://www.blackberryforums.com/showthread.php?t=24393

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/2.0 (compatible; MSIE 3.02; Windows CE; PPC; 240x320) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

OMG YOU ARE the MAN. Whew... I was stuck with a useless Berry, but your fix saved me. Much thanks, you're gonna get a 6 pack from me. Cheers

This thread should be a sticky. The inability to remove an IT policy by wiping the unit is a serious flaw in the design of BlackBerry.

I used the original .bin file and it worked like a charm...

Has anyone tried yet the new version to enable the wireless synch yet?? If you have please post results here. Thanks.

I don't agree with that statement. I dont see it as a flaw, I see it as security. If someone steals my BlackBerry, I dont want them to EVER be able to use it. But that is just me, I am a d***head about things like that.

Well I just got home from work and tried the new policy to see if it would fix the wireless connection problem and unfortunately, it did not work. The phone is obviously still free of an IT policy but when I went to try the Wireless synch it was the same as before. Dan I still want to thank you inmensely for having taken a crack at it.

i read the whole post.. what amazes me is how ur pin matches ur nickname

is that something you made up or is that your real pin?

Policies and Bluetooth
 

Hi, okay it seems that the newer Policy.bin (bt-policy.bin) still isn't enabling Bluetooth.

Does anyone know the Policy.inf syntax to enable bluetooth? I guessed at the following:

DisableBluetooth {policy} = false
DisableWirelessBypass {policy} = false
DisableDesktopConnectivity {policy} = false
DisableDiscoverableMode {policy} = false
DisablePairing {policy} = false
DisableBluetooth {policy} = false

... but this doesn't appear to be working. I'd guess that someone with a newer BES could find this out using the ITPolicy tool.

Sorry the last one didn't work, like I said, I can't test this stuff :-)

Dan.

Dan no need to be sorry, you singlehandedly are doing for so many here what has been a real issue for a long time. Thank You.

The ITpolicy tool that came with the 4.0.4 trial wouldn't recognize any of the bluetooth settings but the BES itself certainly does.

Interesting...

You can actually "force" the ITPolicy tool to recognize those settings by adding them to the keyword.txt file, that's how I added them in the first place... Just need to know the correct keys names. In the Drop Down of Keys (in the menu bar of the ITPolicy tool), is there anything that resembles:

Disable Wireless Bypass

or

Disable Desktop Connectivity

Apparently these are the killer settings :-)

Dan.

Dan,

I just took a look at all the options for an IT Policy on our BES and under the "Bluetooth Policy Group" there is an option "Disable Wireless Bypass"

Hope this helps.

If you look at this he already has that as an option unless you mean something else:

DisableBluetooth {policy} = false
DisableWirelessBypass {policy} = false
DisableDesktopConnectivity {policy} = false
DisableDiscoverableMode {policy} = false
DisablePairing {policy} = false
DisableBluetooth {policy} = false

oops - sorry.....than I'm not sure what he's looking for.

(if you already know this then disregard but when going to set either "disable wireless bypass" or "disable desktop connectivity" it says "This rule applies only to Java-based BlackBerry devices version 4.1.0 and higher")

Dan, the IT Policy generator you are using was released with BES 3.x and has continued to live on through 4.x. In other words, no extra options, even by way of 'forcing' it, will be available.

This thread will NEVER be a sticky - heck, it might even be deleted by another moderator at some point in time. To those of us who operate within the corporate world of BlackBerry, we take our security quite seriously. With the way some people on here rant about their corporate policies being pushed down on their handheld and they are looking for a policy.bin file to remove the security from it - that kind of crap really pisses me off.

I do have sympathy for those who purchased handhelds from eBay or left a company or something along those lines, though... that's the only reason I won't delete these kind of threads.

if you take security seriously, banning a thread or hiding the obvious from users will not solve the security issue here. Relying on a users ignorance or hiding facts, is not the correct way to impliment security. That's Microsoft's way.

The correct approach should have RIM 1) fixing the security flaw and 2) allow rightful owners to completely wipe the device. If you keep this thread alive, maybe someone at RIM will stumble across it, and maybe it will get fixed.

Also, there is nothing wrong with buying a used item from Ebay. If we use that logic, no one should buy a used car, used computer, used house, or used anything. Everyone should just buy new.

Dan is a hero for providing easy and simple to follow instructions to wiping a blackberry.

There's two sides here and its unfortuante that they (RIM) haven't determined a way to allow a blackberry to be reset (including policy) that is exposed to the user.

My personal opinion is that those of us (myself included) who are BES Admins need to ensure that we remove restrictive policies from BB's as they are decommisioned. If we did that, we would not have an issue, BB's that were showing up on ebay/etc with restrictive policies would be known to be stolen...

of course, I also think as a user who purchases a device (legitimately), should have the ability to remove these restrictions, since they are the purchaser and ultimate owner of the device.

as a bes admin (as recently mentioned in another thread), if a bb was stolen I could send a restrictive policy and then kill it.. it would be useless to the person who "took" it.. if they know how to remove this policy, they can resell it and its up to the carrier(s) to handle the (cross) reporting of stolen devices..

I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too..

There is a difference between providing information on a security hole and providing the files to explicitly exploit it. Having said that I can sympathize with people that by a restricted device on Ebay. Even with my sympathy, as an admin in a corporate environment, I would still come down on the side of Caveat Emptor.

I made a promise to someone not to post here any further and continue this but I am sorry for breaking it since I do need to addresss this, and it will be my last post on this topic.

Rim does have to address this issue, it is a legitimate one, and yes if admins made sure that when decomissioned or removed from the BEs that policies be removed we would not be here. But neither of this issues has been addressed well enough otherwise we would not be here.

I have a simple solution that Rim might want to look at: If the concern is the wrong person removing the police and circumventing restrictions, I will tell RIM add one more restriction. If someone removes the IT policy then that device will nto work on the BES any longer unless it was brought back to the IT administrator. This would allow for the policy removal and at the same time wiping the BB ala Kill command so it be useless to anyone wanting to break security, yet allowing a legitimate user the benefit of the full device.

Now if you are trying to break security and remove the policy, then lets see you talk your way out of it with your employer. That would deter anyone without legitimate reasons from trying.

Except for people selling a stolen device who would still be able to profit from illegal activities.

Removing a device from the BES should automatically wipe it of data and policy. There should also be a way to let RIM know of stolen devices so that they may never be activated again.

This isn't true. Keywords.txt lives in the same directory as ITPolicy.exe - essentially a properties bundle that is used by ITPolicy.exe as the master list of valid key names. Adding another key definition to this list enables you to set that property, and it does make it's way into the bin file.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the actual tool is the same across versions, only the Keywords.txt changes...

Okay, new question, can someone send, or post/email the contents, or post/email the relevant lines of the latest Keyword.txt file?

Ta, D.

What I'm saying is that the keywords.txt has been the same from 3.6 base installation to 4.1 base installation - nothing has changed about this since day one. It was not meant for what you're trying to do (meant for legacy desktop-pushed policies only - I would assume for Redirector configurations who didn't have a BES), and I'd dare to say that it won't be updated again. You may be right, but I personally do not think that it will work with the more recently added policy options (VoIP, WLAN, BBMSGR, BT, etc).

We attempted all of this a few months back (when the 7100i was released) with the guessing games - nothing worked.

http://www.blackberryforums.com/show...uetooth+policy

I agree, the policy should be removed with a security wipe since all data and BES info is removed. I also think no policy or blank policy should mean all services are enabled. Why do we have to create a policy to enable a feature when no policy should give you a fully working device?

No. a security wipe should not remove policies. Omly the removal from the BES should do that. And only if I can notify RIM that a particular PIN belongs to a stolen device. an end user should not have that ability.

That sounds very reasonable to me; I hope someone from RIM is reading this.

Also, I would think that if someone were to report their BlackBerry as stolen, RIM or the carrier could use the PIN or IMEI number to deactivate the device on either the BIS or BES.

A security wipe does remove the handset from the BES. It also removes all data. Why leave the policy behind?


What if the device isn't stolen? Besides, end users do have the ability, haven't you been reading this thread?

That's the point. An end user should NOT have that ability. Only admin tools should be able to do so, and it should be automatic upon removal from the BES, so that admins don't forget. I don't want my users removing policies.

I agree with this. A security wipe should erase everything including the policy. This will not compromise security for a BES admin... BES admins please let me know how this is a problem.

If the device gets reconnected to a BES, the policy will get reapplied. I agree the BES user should not be able to remove Policys but if the device is not connected to a BES then why should there be a policy on it?

To deter theft of corporate devices.

Because if one of my devices is stolen or lost, I don't want to make it easy for the thief to use or resell it.

A policy can only be applied from a BES, it should only be removable from the BES. I do think that a blank policy should be sent to the device when it is deleted from the BES. That way, we admins would have one last thing to worry about.

Not sure if you can in the US but here in Australia, if your phone is lost or stolen, you can ring up the carrier and get the IMEI black listed. This prevents it from being used on any network. This is much more effective than any IT policy really.

My company's IT policy is an enforced password. If someone stole my device, they can still use it and just choose a new password after they wipe my device. Not really a big deterrent.

I don't know if there is a system like that here in the states or not. Regardless, if we get a report of a stolen device, I know that we send a nuke command then apply a policy that is so restictive as to make the device essentially useless.

Just out of interest, can you change an IT policy after the unit is wiped? Or would you have to apply the policy prior to wiping?

Is there any policy that prevents the user logging in at all? That would be useful...

I do not manage the BES policies myself, but if I remember I will ask next time I talk to the admin nerds.

Stolen equipment amounts to tax write-offs at the end of the year for American corporations (not sure about other countries' taxing policies), so if that is the only reason anyone can think of as to why to keep policy on the handheld after a security wipe, then I'd have to agree with the consumer, non-admins on this particular thread (Soapm, etc).

Sure, its always nice to be able to stick it to the thieves, but a line has to be drawn somewhere.

Any other concerns as to why policy MUST remain on the handheld if its no longer on the BES, short of having a leg-up on would-be thieves?

Mac
 

Does this policy.bin work with MAC Computers? Thank you.

Bluetooth Policy Problem Solved - Exchangemymail.com
 

I have found a great solution for those of us that are no longer on a
BES but have policies, especially those policies that block out some of
the Bluetooth functionality that no one seems to be able to remove with
a policy.bin file. I signed up for the exchangemymail.com service and
everyting is now functional including Bluetooth synch.

:smile: I AM SYNCHING RIGHT NOW WITH MY BLUETOOTH ENABLED BLACKBERRY 7100t USING THE HK4.1 CSL WITH DESKTOP MANAGER 4.1.:smile:

1. Quick, quick, quick setup of account and BES access
2. Easy to configure and connect to BES, even wirelessy without any
desktop configuration to activate

The customer service is great as noted in other posts and I am very
pleased with the service.

The cost is pretty reasonable for gaining full control of your
blackberry and I highly recommend this rather than scurrying about to find
a better/cheaper solution!!!

7100sib

You can find more information on exchangemymail.com in the sponsor thread below. Yes, they are also a sponsor of this forum!!

http://www.blackberryforums.com/showthread.php?t=17095

[sarcasm]Well...in that case, don't bother locking the doors of any department store. As a matter of fact, why have doors at all? It's all just a tax write off right?[/sarcasm]

I am pretty new to the forum but have found it very useful and have used many of the threads to customize my phone. That being said I am willing to be the tester if someone kind enough with the right BES version (I think I have read BES 4.1 or 4.0 SP3) would create a policy.bin with the bluetooth settings as noted in this and other threads. I appreciated the idea to use the hosted BES but am not sure I want to pay for the service just to use Bluetooth. Maybe someone can start a BES service to just push policies for a low cost fee.

If you are willing to create the policy.bin with the latest BES feel free to email the policy.bin directly to me at and I will begin testing right away.

Alternate way of unlocking.
 

Guys!
Some simple work around for the frustrated EBay customers sprout in my mind. Can someone confirm if this would really work.

Lets say on EBay, I was sold a locked BB which doesn't allow me to make a call (or any other very basic operation). Now if I download a BES trial (I'm assuming that it would be free) and register my BB into it and then via this BES if I reset this device's policy to 'Default' policy won't the BB be unlocked? I strongly believe it would.

regards
Jayachandra

Why do all that, just read post #5 of this thread...

Yes buddy,
Daniel sure has a good solution. That's why I said an "Alternative" way of unlocking :). With all due commendation to Daniel's work, I'd like to say...
(i)The reason behind my work around was that the process involved in Daniel's solution was too cryptic (real geeky hack type). And this one is a little more transparent one.
(ii)The .bin file is binary file and hence user never knows what all settings will be open/close once the hack is done. Whereas via the BES trial version u could see what options you are keeping on/off on your BB.

regards
Jayachandra

Sorry, I took your underlying question to be, once the BES admin sends a kill policy, can the device be used again with a fresh policy minus the kill? I didn't know the answer but figured Daniels solution was easier.

Having understood your process makes me wonder if I can use it to open up my bluetooth sync???? One of those things that makes you go HHHhhhmmm???

One problem, I believe you need an exchange server to make this work or else you can't install the BES trial and connect it to the blackberry. The issue is that most of us with the problem don't have exchange servers to do this with. Any other thoughts or maybe I am mistaken on needing an exchange server but it seems logical.

give it a shot and let us know if it works out!!!

Exchange server I have not so I think I'll be content.

Nevermind, this still did not remove the IT Policy.


Possible solution for everybody affected by a problem like this with a newer Java based BB.

Download the BlackBerry JDE Components from BB's website (It's in the developers section). Extract that and run "javaloader -u wipe". It appears to do the same as a nuke from the BES management console, which removes all data (including the O/S). You will then need the BB desktop and the appropriate handheld software for your device from RIM (which can all be downloaded from the BB website). I am trying this right now on a spare 7520 that I have from work and will update with the results.

Wipe will not remove the IT Policy and neither will a trial form of the BES someone else reported trying that already and it did not work, Daniel's way does work at least partially and it will allow you to do third party installation. What it does not do is remove the restrictions on bluetooth synch that your BB may have. I say may because it is not necessarily something everyone will do.

Sort of, his way works all the way for which it was intended. It removes the policy. What you need is a new policy to enable BT. That is a different deal. Daniel tried to modify his policy so it would enable BT but he doesn't have a 4.? BES server and no kind soul has yet to secretly let one slip out...

I agree Soapm and I commend his work to date, I am far from sounding like i was disappointed at all, just making it clear if there was someone planning on applying to get BT working, since it wont. I used it for the initial intended step and was and am still extremely happy with the results he gave me.

Dan I did evertthing you said to remove the IT policy, but now when i use the desktop manager it asks me for a password. when I put my password in, it does not accept it. I have 6 more attempts. the password on the BB works fine to unlock it but won't work on the PC with the desktop manger.

If anyone would like to give me some tips on how to export an it policy from a BES, I would be happy to give it a shot. I have access to a BES 4.1 server. Either PM or email me at poonjahb at sbcglobal dot net.

Is the password on the BlackBerry Alpha-numeric? and if so, when you are typing it on the BlackBerry, are you holding the alt key to get the numbers? or are you just getting letters unknowningly?

To reset the counter, enter the password on the Blackberry then connect to the computer again.

Zro

The policy.bin stuff (IIRC) was from a Domino 2.2 BES. You can't export a 4.1 BES's IT policy. So, it is quite possible that there will be no way to use a policy.bin to enable the Bluetooth sync since by default it's disabled with an IT policy. But the snag on this one is that if the BlackBerry sees that there's an IT policy at all then it will disable Bluetooth sync unless the policy says to enable it. so if your policy does not say "enable bluetooth sync" the Blackberry itself will disable it. And this is where everyone is running into problems with the policy.bin file.

Zro

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT Policy
 

Do I have to wipe my BB 7290?

I only see the wipe option when I go to the security/password, is that the same?

I did everything else but wipe my BB and it didn't work I still have the IT Policy. I'm scared to wipe my BB 7290.

Do I have to wipe my BB 7290?

I only see the wipe option when I go to the security/password, is that the same?

I did everything else but wipe my BB and it didn't work I still have the IT Policy. I'm scared to wipe my BB 7290.

What scares you about wiping your BB? We are here for you...

wiping the handheld gives it a window to overwrite the policy that is on there - no wipe, no new policy.

It worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to everyone who helped me I no longer have an IT Policy! Thanks again!!!!!!!!!

Hi Dan - did you ever get the answers you needed so that BT can be re-enabled for desktop sync? Thanks!

I am having a problem I Bought a BB 7230 on Ebay and it was wipe out (image) and the seller reimburst me the money because the IT policy was wipe out and TMOBILE or RIM can't help me it did have a IT policy i downloaded 4.0 v and desktop & Handheld Softy's but i can seem to get and Internet browser on my BB i do have email and stuff like that but can some one help me !! I am new to this site..

In case anyone's interested in trying this link to get the directions:
This page has moved.This page has moved.
It's no longer active, you'll get redirected to another page talking about PSP's

Today is your lucky day....

http://www.blackberryforums.com/gene...ve-policy.html

BTW - this was posted no more than 45 minutes ago. It was right in front of you...

Hello everyone.. As everyone else has said.. Dan your the man !! I also bought a BB8700 used.. and of course it had an existing ITPolicy on it.. cant surf the web.. it locks on me every 20 min.. you know the deal.. IM concerned about following the wipe procedure.. does it remove the Rogers Branding on it ?? and the BT issues.. Is it only the Desktop sync that has trouble.. or the entire BT function.. can I still use my headset.. and transfer files?? Hmm.. Thanks KK

I thought I read somewhere earlier that pointing to Dan's vanilla policy.bin file only works with BES 3.x - is that true? My company is converting me to 4.1 in the near future, and so it'd be nice to know ahead of time if I'll lose some of the functionality that pointing to the policy.bin file enables for me.

IT Policy should attach to BES, not device
 

I'm a new Blackberry owner and user. My 7130c just got hooked up to the BES, and suddenly, I can't install any apps. Annoying to be sure. I read this whole thread and I think you BES admins are forgetting something, the corporation doesn't always own the device. My company made me pay for it...I own it. You should have the power to disconnect me from BES, but not to send a kill policy or otherwise disable MY device. Once disconnected from BES, the user should be able to delete any policy from within the device. Each BB device should have a "disable BES" option, and once excercized, wiping the device should obliterate any security policy. The preventing theft argument doesn't wash, as no company can disable the ordinary cell phones it issues to employees. Nor can it do so with more expensive items like laptops. The BES security policy should function like VPN software, when enabled by the user, he/she can access BES, when disabled, he/she can't.

any news on a bluetooth fix?

I suspect my IT fools read this forum. they just restricted download of BB messenger and Google maps and all software not supplied by them.
They claim Google maps will allow remote access. i really hate people who have no idea how the BB works but are in charge of the process.

As I thought about this even further, it seemed even more absurd. I can download whatever I please onto my laptop, and VPN directly into the network. Yet with a Blackberry, BES is a push service. It sends me e-mails. The only thing I can send into my network is e-mails, could they have a virus? Sure...but anybody could send an e-mail with a virus into any corporate mail server from any e-mail account. Can a BES admin explain just what security risk a Blackberry creates? Google Maps? How is that a threat on a Blackberry, when it's not a threat on a laptop?

slance66,

If your network admins are on the ball, you may be able to download anything on your laptop, but you should be able to install anything. On top of that, your laptop should have anti-virus on it. And it's protected by a strong password. And you don't pay for bandwidth by the minute.

Remember that a BB on a BES is ALREADY inside the network. There is a POC app out there that uses MDS as a vector.

And it's a lot easier to misplace a BB than a laptop.

Your BB may be owned by you, but it's on the company's network. Our duty as admins is to protect the network. If you don't like it, I'm sure your admin would be glad to take you off the network.

These last few threads are why we do not allow personally owned BBs on our network. Or Treos or anything else for that matter.

So I take it Google maps is a threat to Admins. Or is it just a control thing. Google mays for BB is only available OTA

So does my BB connect to the network other than through BES? That's the link to the Network right? It doesn't use the corporate network at all for me to use Google Maps, or Berry 411, or to place calls, or surf the web, it uses Cingular's network for that. So only with respect to e-mails sent to and from BES, as well as synchronization with a PIM, does it connect to the network, right?

As for antivirus, I would hope that the mail server has that...since there's no virus I could send with a BB that anyone couldn't send from any e-mail account anywhere. It just seems that banning apps is an easy security policy, even if it's overkill. There must be less intrusive ways to protect the network.

Banning apps is partly a security thing. It's also a support thing. There is no way that support people can possibly guess at all possible configurations out there. Or test every possible software conflicts. That's why we lock down BBs, and laptops.

They're the company's assets, not yours.

Except, as I said earier...it IS my asset. I own it and can use it as I like. I understand that if the company provides the BB, they can control it as they see fit. However, where the employee owns the BB (I had to pay for it under company policy) any IT policy should be as limited as possible and should try to balance security and support concerns with the user's rights to use his/her device as they see fit. For example, I can't even download themes and ringtones. That's nothing but laziness on the part of the admin in any policy (even with company owned devices). They didn't take the time to ban just those items that pose a security threat, and instead banned everything.

I just bought a 7290 from off of Ebay and low and behold an IT security policy. fortunately I have been monitoring this thread and know how to fix it and make the device completely functional to myself. i absolutely understand the admins need for security. but id like full use of this device now.

Sounds to me like you have to get them to push on the default (blank) IT policy, and then get off of their BES...

Thanks, The 7290 I bought off of ebay is now completely usable by me. Now to start tweaking it

thats why this forums is there.. poeple are life savers here.. this policy thing was the biggest stupid thing once you leave the company.. thats why I won my BB and denied employer's requests to add me to BES

Be warned that flashing on a blank policy still doesn't re-enable Bluetooth Syncing (and it is disabled by default on ALL IT policies, including the 'Default' one,) and it also keeps Split Pipes disabled, which can cause some network access issues. The best way is to find someone with a BES/BES Express and ask them to make you a policy that has everything enabled then enterprise act to their BES and get that policy - that way you can get ALL the functionality, some of which is just flat-out removed as soon as any IT policy is applied and does not come back even with the policy.bin from these forums.

Does anyone on here have one that can remove the bluetooth restriction?