Mobile File Manager 2.
5 - Security and Connections
Overview
Mobile File Manager supports Windows File
Sharing, WebDAV, File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
and Secure FTP (SFTP) connections. You can
make these connections using either:
• the MDS Service on a BlackBerry Enterprise
Server
• TCP/IP
Mobile File Manager will automatically detect
the best way to connect by default. If you are
on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, Mobile File
Manager will connect through the MDS
Service. If you are not on a BlackBerry
Enterprise Server, Mobile File Manager will
connect through TCP/IP.
Connection Types
How Windows File Sharing connections
work
Windows File Sharing uses the Server
Message Block (SMB) protocol to allow file
sharing.
Drives, folders and files that you want to
access on the remote computer must be
configured as shared.
If the remote computer is hosted on the
Internet and is not within the Windows network
that is visible to your BlackBerry Enterprise
Server, you must make sure that the
computer's firewall is open at port 445 TCP.
How WebDAV connections work
WebDAV allows users to edit and manage files
on remote web servers. Please visit the
WebDAV Resources website for more
information: www.webdav.org
How FTP and SFTP connections work
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Secure FTP
(SFTP) are client-server protocols. An
FTP/SFTP client connects to an FTP or SFTP
server so that you can manage, edit, and move
files on remote servers.
Mobile File Manager is an FTP/SFTP client for
BlackBerry smartphone. To create FTP
connections, you must install an FTP server
on the computer you want to access. In most
cases, to create SFTP connections, the
remote server only needs to have SSH
installed and running.
If you do not have an FTP server and want to
create FTP connections, there is a range of
FTP servers available free and for purchase
on the Internet. We recommend that you
evaluate the options relative to your require-
ments.
Mobile File Manager uses Passive FTP to
connect to FTP servers. Passive FTP requires
port 21 as well as ports 1024 and above to be
open in the firewall that protects the remote
computer. If you do not know how to configure
your firewall, contact your system administra-
tor.
Security Overview
Security with a BlackBerry Enterprise
Server
If you are using a BlackBerry Enterprise
Server, all data sent between it and the
BlackBerry smartphones is encrypted with
Triple Data Encryption Standard (TDES) or
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). This
means that all Windows File Sharing,
WebDAV, FTP and SFTP connections made
using a BlackBerry Enterprise Server are
secure. The US Government has security-
certified TDES and AES as compliant with
Federal Information Processing Standards
(FIPS).
With a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, you can
connect to remote computers hosted inside
your company's firewall. Typically, you can
also use the BlackBerry Enterprise Server to
connect to remote computers hosted on the
Internet.
Additional security for BlackBerry smartphones
is provided with the ability to "kill" lost devices
from the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Killing
a device disables and erases the Mobile File
Manager application.
Note: All file and folder transfers go through
the BlackBerry smartphone to leverage the
best-in-class security of the BlackBerry
Enterprise Server. Make sure that your
wireless data plan is suitable for higher
volumes of data traffic.
Security without a BlackBerry Enterprise
Server
If you are not using a BlackBerry Enterprise
Server, Mobile File Manager will connect using
TCP/IP.
SFTP connections are secured with Secure
Shell (SSH) technology—all connection data
between the BlackBerry smartphone and the
remote computer is encrypted with TDES or
AES.
WebDAV connections by default use HTTP,
which is by nature insecure. To make secure
WebDAV connections over TCP/IP, use
HTTP-Secure (HTTPS), which uses Secure
Socket Layer (SSL) encryption.
Note: FTP is inherently insecure. Similarly,
Windows File Sharing connections are
protected only by your Windows authentica-
tion. For these reasons, the security of your
data cannot be guaranteed if you use TCP/IP,
because it will not be encrypted for these
connection types. All file and folder transfers
go through the BlackBerry smartphone. Make
sure that your wireless data plan is suitable for
higher volumes of data traffic.
Authentication
Mobile File Manager allows you to set a
password that will be required to access the
application. In addition to this, you can also set
a password to allow access to your BlackBerry
smartphone.