Corporate AirWatch On Multiple User Accounts on Android - Nexus 6P Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I feel confident my employer sniffs end user traffic and is in our personal lives a lot more than I want. We have a BYOD device policy, but I have to have AirWatch on to get corporate email, contacts, and calendar. I gotta give a little to get a little. I don't feel comfortable with the "unknown" that our IT department isn't educated enough to elaborate on. So... I'm here to speak so some wizards who can run circles around my IT department.
I am using nexus 6P so I can take advantage of Guest Mode (give my phone to my toddler, he can't damage anything); I have a personal account where I jump to when I want to do personal things. I have a corporate profile, where I have AirWatch configured where I only use the user space for work related surfing, and etc. I own this phone and the phone number.
Being that AirWatch is installed on my device, how private is the user space when I'm using my phone with a profile where AirWatch is not configured; e.g., my personal profile?
I would like to know what situations to be aware of before I start making irrational decisions about my employment. Information is power and I'm seeking such. How much can they see on profiles?
I appreciate serious conversations about this. Thank you.

Related

FREE EXCHANGE MAIL SERVICE FOR POCKETPC w/ DIRECT PUSH MAIL (reopened)

Free exchange mail service for your pocket pc with Outlook Web Access
I run an exchange server and I am welcoming pocketpc users that are in need of an exchange account to activesync with. This service also offers Direct Push for those of you that have have this on your PocketPC. As well as the ability to sync all of your contacts, calander events, and task wirelessly onto your Outlook desktop instantly.
Its totally free and has outlook web access, to sign-up simply point your browser to http://www.port88.org/signup.php, enter your desired account information and I will have your account ready within 24hrs. I even provide documentation on how to setup your wizard or other pocketpc device.
NOTICE: Lots of users have been asking if they can have an alias setup so that it looks like they are sending from thier personal email address (ie gmail, hotmail, yahoo ect..) and the answers is YES! With each account you can have an alias setup so that your recipents see your email address as anything you like! In order to keep this service alive, it is asked that you donate $15.00 USD in order to use this Email Alias service.
If you have/are signing up, it can take up to 48 hours for me to get your account activated. Please make sure to check your junk-mailbox for a confirmation email and then a activation notice! A lot of people are signing up and not activating thier accounts, if you do not activate it with in 3 days it will get deleted, so make sure to check your junk/bulk mail folders so you do not miss the notice of activation which contains your user information.
If you are intrested in other services or want more information, check out http://www.port88.org
This is something I do in my spare time for fun, so it may take me 48 hours before I get you set up. But being a Wizard/MDA user myself, I have found this to be a great tool.
Obviously all this cost money, and lots of it. I have had a few people donate to the cause which has been a great help. But some users ask me for special features that I normally would not offer to a basic user. Well the solution is simple, if more people donate (even a small ammount) I will be able to upgrade the server with more space and better processing power, and in turn more services will be free for everyone to use.
So if you like the service and feel that you can contribute, please send paypal payments to [email protected]
If you think you can donate in other ways (I currently looking for a forum site to be set up), please send me an email!
Keep our community growing, join today!
AK
PS - This time around it's a no nonsence approach that I am taking, so please do not waste my time. Additionally if you find that my emails are short in response, please know that I am not trying to be an ass, I just have a lot on my plate.
REGISTRATION ARE BACK OPEN - June 1st, 2007
awww how sweet!
hey just sent you an email
thx
hey he set it up for me
its working great
What is...
Sorry but what is an exchange server? How will it help me? Thanks for explaining.
not sure how this is supposed tp work but i did send an email and so far nothing. am i missing something here.
Austindkelly,
Thanks for the offer ! How does your service differ from Mail2Web live then ?
I might be interested ...
Cheers
Mark
Don't fall on this!!! Never give personal information over the internet.
:evil: Everyone must be smart enough to notice that this a trap!!
First of all this is totally legit, I do this in my spare time so it might take me a day or so to respond. If you send me an email about signing up, please include the username you would like. If you feel unsafe about sending your 'personal information' dont send me an email, as I will need your Name and a prefered username to sign you up, if you think this is too reveling, do not sign up for anything, or send an email, or use the internet in general. And please do not complain if it takes me more than a few hours to respond, this is free, so chill!
cmarti said:
Don't fall on this!!! Never give personal information over the internet.
:evil: Everyone must be smart enough to notice that this a trap!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am guessing that you are one of those hyper sensative people who don't like having your ssn on your driver's license either? Seriously get a grip and check out his website.
By the way...awesome service.. He sends out emails when the server is going down and gives alot more Customer Support then one of these other free places I am sure.
thank you!
Speaking of which Austin...can i get my login info again Being the dummy i am I never wrote down my password and reflashed my phone :-D sorry to be such a pain.
I want to retract from what i said Austin is providing an excelent service.
PROVEN!
Sorry, Austin :roll:
it's been a few days, just checking to make sure you didn't need anymore information from me to get set up.
Thanks,
Zak Deutsch
i'd be more concerned with my private and business emails being handled and stored on an unknown server.. but if you guys use your mail for fun, jump on this offer!
i sent the email a few days ago and havent recieved anything. am i doing something wrong Austin?? Should i resend??
Not trying to disrespect but what is the difference between this service and mail2web.com??
Okay guys, If you sent me an email I prob did get it! but the odds are that when i replied it got sent to your junkmail (I know yahoo does this) so check there, if you have not recieved anything from me, shoot me an instant message on here, and we can do it that way!
If you have concerns about privacy or hosting information on unknown servers, you should never, ever, ever use the internet again! even google stores the searches you make on some unknown server, and have you ever actually seen a server that host your email ? prob not. But just to reassure all of you skeptics, my server uses 128bit encryption and runs out of Richmond Virginia in a small office building.
As for whats the difference between this and mail2web, well Im assuming that you are using mail2web if you are asking this, so i will just tell you of the additional features:
1) direct push email support
2) sync with outlook web access
3) sync all contacts, events, tasks and email automatically
4) email alias addresses
there is more, but those are the main reasons that i set it up.
I have over a hundred people signed up and still going strong, so if you are intrested, registration is still open so shoot an email to [email protected] and dont forget to check out www.port88.org for more information.
AK
I thought Mail2Web Live supported Push Email? :?:
..... being an Exchange Admin myself, exchange has been setup in my corp so that admins can read everyone's emails if need be... not that i do
Just hope you lot know this when using this service....

Question about Email forwarding

So I work for a Company and we use email pretty regularly to communicate.
I am a store manager and the company is really **** about letting us set up to recieve emails to our phones. We use Microsoft outlook and it is an intranet bassed email service (I cant email my store or other stores from an outside email, it has to be from a store location). I have tried to creat a rule to have them forwarded but they dont forward.
I figured this is were some of the greatest and able bodies are, anybody have a solution? I'm just trying to get the stores email forwarded to my gmail account so I dont miss stuff on my days off. Anybody have any ideas??
Hope this is the correct forum for this
Well if your using outlook at your store, why don't you create a new account in your pocket outlook with your account info. You can find all of it in your settings, then set it to recieve at certain times only.
OR
There is an option to forward an email to an account once recieved. I'm using Outlook '07 so my setup may be a bit different but most outlook versions should have the same options. If you still can't find the rule setup for it just let me know.
mrmikemcguire said:
So I work for a Company and we use email pretty regularly to communicate.
I am a store manager and the company is really **** about letting us set up to recieve emails to our phones. We use Microsoft outlook and it is an intranet bassed email service (I cant email my store or other stores from an outside email, it has to be from a store location). I have tried to creat a rule to have them forwarded but they dont forward.
I figured this is were some of the greatest and able bodies are, anybody have a solution? I'm just trying to get the stores email forwarded to my gmail account so I dont miss stuff on my days off. Anybody have any ideas??
Hope this is the correct forum for this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, there are a few things that come to mind.....
I am a District Manager for a restaurant chain so my first response is to say enjoy our time off
Second, I will probably sound like a jerk but there are reasons that companies limit email access to the physical location of a business, it is much more secure.
Knowing all of that, I personally forward all of my work mail to gmail and use the IMAP access so I do not have to remember if I have checked it or not. I generally get between 30-60 emails a day.
Your email may not be able to be forwarded due to how it is set up. I worked at a place where we did that and the email server we used would not allow an email from the units to be sent to any other domain other than our internal one.
My last thought it that if you are unable to find the email server settings on your own and set your email program on your phone up then you probably should not be messing with it. They are pretty easy to find but you do open your work network up to potential infection of malware or a virus. I know I would get pissed if one of my managers did something like that and caused us to have issues. Beware that they can and do track which IP addresses connect to the email server though.
-asb
Thanks guys,
I appreciate the help. I have put a rule in outlook to forward them to my gmail but it doesnt work.
Believe me, i understand the reason for limiting the location to the stores for email access. I do know that its definately possible because a couple area managers and my DM have it to their phone. I'm honestly not trying to deceitful, and I do enjoy my time off, but I have issues where i dont get important emails so i just wanted to forward them..
I didnt think about setting it up in the phone, i'm going to look into that. Where would i find the settings at in outlook? I know that I using it through my INTRANET and i use outlook through web access, so there isnt a "tools" tab that i can go into to get settings.
I'm going to play around with it.
Thanks again
Well.. some thoughts about the access...
If you you use web access then you know the server address already.
I would start off using the url as the pop3 access.
I'm replying from my phone but I will put up a mini guide later.
-asb
mrmikemcguire said:
Thanks guys,
I appreciate the help. I have put a rule in outlook to forward them to my gmail but it doesnt work.
Believe me, i understand the reason for limiting the location to the stores for email access. I do know that its definately possible because a couple area managers and my DM have it to their phone. I'm honestly not trying to deceitful, and I do enjoy my time off, but I have issues where i dont get important emails so i just wanted to forward them..
I didnt think about setting it up in the phone, i'm going to look into that. Where would i find the settings at in outlook? I know that I using it through my INTRANET and i use outlook through web access, so there isnt a "tools" tab that i can go into to get settings.
I'm going to play around with it.
Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you create and send a new email to the Gmail account you are trying to forward these messages to? If you cannot then you must first find out if your network is blocking Gmail or if it is a routing issue. If you can successfully send an email to the Gmail account then the problem is merely in the settings of outlook (insert any email client here).
Almost always the outlook application must remain running for the rules to be honored. Creating and managing rules can be tricky. Make sure there are no stop processing rules entries prior to the forward all email rule you created. Also make sure there is not a stop rule in the forwarding rule or any after it will fail as well.
Ok, you said that you use outlook web access to check your email in your location. I would take a look at the url in the address bar. That will most likely be your access point that you will use later.
If you are on an intranet though you might be out of luck.
For example, one company I worked for had things set up like this:
Intranet with everyone having an ip address of 10.10.10.***.
We had an internal DNS server to resolve our intranet based web site and our email server.
Our email server was 10.10.10.101
Our internal web server was 10.10.10.102
Now, for outside access, we had an external IP that was something like 12.225.125.188.
If you only access your email from on the intranet (not INTERNET) then you need to find out the external IP address. You might be able to get it from a higher up but most likely you will be shot down.
Now, for simplicity sake, how about either letting the people at your location check email and call you if something major is going on email wise or just call them a few times each day?
Without the magic numbers (external IP) you won't be able to get access no matter what you try. There is also the remote possibility that the higher ups with access on their phones are using blackberries and the service associated with that or a VPN solution to get on the work intranet.
With out physically looking at the numbers and the set up it would be hard to figure out all of the details so my post is just full of WAG (wild ass guesses).
Just to finish it up, think about this...
Deliberately trying to circumvent your networks protections even accessing email against your companies policies can put you in not only work related trouble but also legal trouble.
-asb
Appreciate the help. I figured if the process wasnt to intracate I would set it up. Appears that it's more trouble than what it's worth.

Microsoft Exchange setup

OK, so this is more exchange oriented than HD2, but perhaps somone might be able to help on this.
My IT dept. are being a bunch of douches. I pissed them off when I first started work having been in IT myself at one point in life ranging from desktop support up to MIS Director and let's just say I stupidly corrected some things and thwarted a few Draconian security efforts now and then on my new job. Very stupid of me as I know what happens when you piss off IT.
Anyway, I have been dying to set up push email, but they state that they are working on policies for this.
BS.
Is there a way to, through some discovery process, "discover" the exchange name so I can set up push email? This is killing me as one of the reasons (among many) that I waited to buy an MS superphone was specifically for this purpose!
Thanks in advance.
Dude, never piss IT off...
Dude, I work in IT. You have done something that most people mutter under their breath. Anyways, I will try to help as much as possible.
Now for the exchange server address do you by any chance have an Outlook Web Access address i.e. my company uses as the webaccess for outlook on the go.
https://webmail.acme.com/owa/auth/logon.aspx
so for my exchange setup I used "webmail.acme.com" in my activesync on my phone and checked the ssl thing.
Also the webaddress used above should have a proper SSL cert. and not a wlidcard one (google it).
Let me know if you have any more questions.
f_v_man said:
Dude, I work in IT. You have done something that most people mutter under their breath. Anyways, I will try to help as much as possible.
Now for the exchange server address do you by any chance have an Outlook Web Access address i.e. my company uses as the webaccess for outlook on the go.
https://webmail.acme.com/owa/auth/logon.aspx
so for my exchange setup I used "webmail.acme.com" in my activesync on my phone and checked the ssl thing.
Also the webaddress used above should have a proper SSL cert. and not a wlidcard one (google it).
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me...I know. Having worked IT for 20+ years...I know.
So my company uses:
https://mail.xxxx.com/owa
As far as I am aware that is is.
I am not following the rest of what you have written though.
What do you mean by a "proper SSL thing?"
Camusa said:
OK, so this is more exchange oriented than HD2, but perhaps somone might be able to help on this.
My IT dept. are being a bunch of douches. I pissed them off when I first started work having been in IT myself at one point in life ranging from desktop support up to MIS Director and let's just say I stupidly corrected some things and thwarted a few Draconian security efforts now and then on my new job. Very stupid of me as I know what happens when you piss off IT.
Anyway, I have been dying to set up push email, but they state that they are working on policies for this.
BS.
Is there a way to, through some discovery process, "discover" the exchange name so I can set up push email? This is killing me as one of the reasons (among many) that I waited to buy an MS superphone was specifically for this purpose!
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even if you figure out the proper address and domain name, there is a good chance you will need a security cert Cab to run to allow you access which must come from your IT dept.
Why not just take this to your boss and tell them you want work email on your phone and have he or she force them to set you up? If your boss isn't down with you having work email on your phone, then IT isn't going to let you anyhow...
I appreciate all the responses.
A couple of points to address:
1. I got it to work no problem.
2. I erased the profile and am going to wait for them to give me the green light/red light.
I am second in command for my satellite office.
I am the assistant program director for a FQHC (Federally Qualified Healthcare Center). We are JCAHO accredited and long-standing.
We have to play by some very serious rules according to the feds and HIPAA is always looming large.
When I put a small applet on my computer to stop the screensaver from engaging (since they took away our privs to be able to just change the setting) someone ratted me out and I was told that it was "HIPAA" policy.
Having been a privacy officer myself I assured them it was not HIPAA policy.
They then noted that it was company policy.
Long and short of it...I am going to have to wade through the BS.
Supervisor is here!
Gotta go!

[Q] Does email reside on the tablet?

I have been trying to figure out email as it runs on Honeycomb (prior to purchase, but this is an interesting question I hope). What I want to do is ditch my computer running windows Live Mail, where all the emails are saved to my computer, and replace with a slinky new tranformer. I realise that a tablet is mostly an online tool, but it has heaps of memory, and I travel too much and still need to access old emails.
But, I cant seem to locate good information regards how the email app operates. Or how others such as K-9 work. So the question is; Do the emails reside on the tablet, can I place into folders, backup locally etc more or less as I do on my PC?
To my knowledge the stock app stores them as entries in an SQL database. You can backup the whole lot, but probably not individually.
sassafras
Having set up my personal e-mail on my TF I've not been able to setup new folders with the default client, I can't find any option to do this. Also it appears as though a copy of your e-mails is downloaded onto the TF and stays on the server unless you enable the option to delete a message only when you delete it from the Inbox. It'll also only download the first 25 messages the first time round, you'll need to hit the 'load more conversations' button if you want to get more to display.
As for your existing e-mails I'm guessing that they are stored locally on your computer and are no longer available 'in the cloud', is that right? If so that will be a bit tricky to get them transferred over to your TF. If those messages are still in the cloud however you shouldn't run into any problems setting up your account on your TF.
By default POP3 email servers should keep the emails on the server (until it is too old by server's auto-delete definition) and you should be able to download your old emails on your transformer (unless you deleted them from your email app on PC, which will cause it to tell the server to delete it too). There's a reason why I started using Exchange instead of POP3.
So am I alone in wanting offline email, archiving etc? Really the only person desperate to replace notebook with tablet, but needing solid productivity from email?
alhart345 said:
So am I alone in wanting offline email, archiving etc? Really the only person desperate to replace notebook with tablet, but needing solid productivity from email?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you need to archive your emails? If you need to back the lot of them up, you can. Using a root explorer, you can browse to the /data/data folder on the device and copy the email client folders located within (I believe com.android.email and com.google.android.gmail) to whichever storage medium you like.
Unfortunately you cannot back up or copy individual emails.
sassafras
I run a business, when visiting customers, vendors or travelling I am often without internet access or it is too slow to be good for much. But I need to access old emails regularly, and email is the central tool for managing my workload. So I sort my old emails by activity in folders locally on my notebook and often refer in meetings to past actions, prices etc. Pretty typical business/corporate action. I may be asking too much of a tablet at this stage, seems most people use it to augment their PC, not replace.
I think storing much locally goes against how Google and Apple view tablet devices. They view storage as a cloud based resource. So emails and documents are stored on their (or your ISPs) servers and accessed from the mobile device. This ensures that your data is constantly backed up and accessible from any device you have, phone, tablet, netbook, etc.
The downside is that this data is in the cloud so access assumes that you have a connection.
alhart345 said:
I run a business, when visiting customers, vendors or travelling I am often without internet access or it is too slow to be good for much. But I need to access old emails regularly, and email is the central tool for managing my workload. So I sort my old emails by activity in folders locally on my notebook and often refer in meetings to past actions, prices etc. Pretty typical business/corporate action. I may be asking too much of a tablet at this stage, seems most people use it to augment their PC, not replace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect that part of your problem is that you are using your email folders as a "CRM" database, whereas you'd probably be better off if you could actually move to a true CRM solution. This may be easier said than done if the data volumes (i.e. your email "database" is large) but will probably provide a much better solution in the long run.
Regards,
Dave
I haven't used the stock Android email app since Android 2.0 and my OG Droid, but I'm rather sure that the GMail app will only locally store the most recent emails, either by date or by number, not sure which. My personal email only goes up until the 23rd before it has to 'load conversations', which I believe is grabbing them from the network.
There is a degree of offline email with these recent conversations, as I've typed up emails off-network and they send as soon as I hit Wifi (or 3G in the phone's case). But nothing like the Outlook-level of Offline email. There is GMail offline for PC, so it is possible Google will bring it to tabs eventually...who knows.
alhart345 said:
I run a business, when visiting customers, vendors or travelling I am often without internet access or it is too slow to be good for much. But I need to access old emails regularly, and email is the central tool for managing my workload. So I sort my old emails by activity in folders locally on my notebook and often refer in meetings to past actions, prices etc. Pretty typical business/corporate action. I may be asking too much of a tablet at this stage, seems most people use it to augment their PC, not replace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use the tablet for work that much, but I understand your situation. eMail is actually a pretty lousy tool for what you're doing. A good practice is to just delete mails as soon as they get to you, get read and the information is used. But, of course, there are times when you will need to keep some of the information a mail came with, but not the email itself. The reason is that email *is not always available*. You either store it on the servers or you store it locally. Being on the servers makes you dependant on an internet connection. Having them locally makes it more prone to database corruption, and simple things such as search, backup and restore are more complex (before I get bashed, I didn't say difficult or impossible, just complex).
I'm used to a Microsoft ecosystem for personal productivity which means that I have outlook and onenote. What I do is:
emails with attachments, where I need to keep the attachment for future reference: I save the attachment and delete the email
emails with information: I drag the email to Onenote and delete the email.
In a PC/Tablet environment there is no reason why you can't do something similar, although it might not be as streamlined as how Microsoft designed their own products.
But, what I picture you being able to use is:
- Mails with attachments - save them to dropbox or get some other PC-Android folder syncing solution. Get rid of the email.
- Mails with information - Save them to evernote or catchnotes and they automatically get synced to your tablet. I think the premium version of Evernote has offline access (i.e. local storage of notes) and Catch does it anyway.
Evernote has a nice feature where you can mail stuff to your evernote account and it will show up.
As you can see it involves that you change a bit how you work and manage information, but if you make this step you can be more productive.
Hi Ferparedes, thanks for the response, took me a while to get back to it. It may be possible to use a notetaker to do this, but I am pondering the steps needed to integrate as you suggest. I take about 100 emails a day, covering say 50 customers and 1-5 new projects per customer, plus ongoing business - folder structure is 3 and 4 deep. I guess, suck it and see is the final result. If working on the TF is so satisfying for everything else, then a way will be found...
Thanks again for the input.
Well, then again it could be that a tablet is not the best tool for your needs, right?
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
alhart345 said:
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows tablets have been around for ages, no?
alhart345 said:
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows 8 tablets should appear in spring 2012.
alhart345 said:
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems like the easy solution is to get internet access on the go. Why not just get a 3g hotspot from your provider? Or, if you have an android phone, set up the mobile access point?
if my experience can help...
Avoiding complex configuration setting up a mail server at home, I've the following config:
- the home pc access my accounts (isp, yahoo, gmail) through pop protocol, with accounts configured to leave messages on the server 15 days
- tablet has same accounts configured with imap access
This way all mails are anyway downloaded and backedup on my local pc, while still being accessible from the tablet.
Of course some diligence is required: if erasing a mail from the tablet while having the pc in standby, the mail will never be available on the pc (but I suppose this is not a big deal: mail has been read and judged to be erased).
My 2 cents

Company wants to wipe my phone

I currently have an assignment at a company that takes security seriously, and rightfully so. One of the disadvantages is that, to access the Exchange server to sync my calendar & read my mail, I need to give them the rights to wipe my phone from a distance and such niceties.
I was wondering if something like MultiROM could be helpful in this case? Set up one ROM for limited use that they can wipe if necessary, and another ROM for real use. The question now is: is the data partition shared? If yes and they wipe my data, then I still lose everything.
What would you advise? I'm currently doing a "manual sync" but that's no fun & very error prone.
If you want to pay for it; use Nine mail application.
You can set a full device wipe or just application wipe.
So if your company decides to wipe it, only the mail gets wiped.
what kind of wipe? if your mean is factory reset or something like that. therefore yes. I mean factory reset wipe just own partition and won't touch of other partitions(I'm sorry for my bad English language. I hope you got what I mean) so, obviously you should sync your info between all roms yourself before wipe.
but if your mean is kind of wipe from recovery or flash with Windows P.C or something like that, don't count on multirom or anything else! ?
فرستاده شده از Nexus 6Pِ من با Tapatalk
Personally, if a company would remote wipe my phone if it gets lost or stolen because it contains company related info in it, I don't see the problem of letting them do so. I would even thank them for having my personal info wiped along with it. If I have issues with the company's terms regarding wiping data on MY phone (maybe like remote wiping without letting me know beforehand, even when my phone is not lost), I would use a secondary phone as a work phone.
The company should provide a work ? for you to use.
stankyou said:
I would use a secondary phone as a work phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just realised the Samsung Galaxy S2 with its broken screen that my Nexus 6p will replace, will be perfect for this. No SIM card, just sync everything over Wi-Fi, done. Thanks for the creative thinking, all!
dratsablive said:
The company should provide a work for you to use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. If they want permission, they should provide the device.
Generally, companies that want your phone wiped any second are against rooting, unlocked bootloaders and custom roms. The best thing to do is to ask them about it first, so that you won't end up getting fired or sued.
Bluemail
PeterJP said:
I currently have an assignment at a company that takes security seriously, and rightfully so. One of the disadvantages is that, to access the Exchange server to sync my calendar & read my mail, I need to give them the rights to wipe my phone from a distance and such niceties.
I was wondering if something like MultiROM could be helpful in this case? Set up one ROM for limited use that they can wipe if necessary, and another ROM for real use. The question now is: is the data partition shared? If yes and they wipe my data, then I still lose everything.
What would you advise? I'm currently doing a "manual sync" but that's no fun & very error prone.
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Ok, so to do this they need to install an MDM agent (Mobile Iron, AirWatch, etc.), a piece of software/application which is granted device administrator rights on your phone. These agents usually manage the security certificates and all the other things needed to authenticate the device with their systems and create a secure connection. If they configured their environment correctly, devices without this agent shouldn't be allowed to connect, which essentially makes the agent required. This is good as only secured and managed devices can connect.
However, as this is a personally owned device, you're allowing them a metric crap ton of access to your personal phone. As a device administrator, the agent can be used to:
* Browse / view / edit files on your phone
* View messages sent or received
* Use GPS to determine the device's location, or even map where the device goes 24/7.
* Change the lock code / pin for the device.
* Lock the device at will.
* Detect rooted devices and disallow service.
* All kinds of other Big Brother-ish type of things.
Your company should have some kind of mobile device policy. Ask to view it. This policy should define acceptable use of mobile devices for employees, and it should also define the acceptable use of the MDM solution for IT staff and management. It should define specifically what steps they will take if the device is lost/stolen, if you get terminated, or any other circumstance where they would want to wipe the device. If they don't have a mobile device policy, or if it does not clearly define these things, demand they provide you with a mobile device and do not grant them permission to use your personal devices. Why? If they don't have their **** together enough to have a policy protecting both them and you, it's just not worth giving them access to your phone.
Furthermore - They should have the ability to perform 2 types of wipes. An enterprise wipe, and a device wipe. The enterprise wipe will remove email, corporate data, corporate applications pushed through the MDM, and finally the MDM agent itself. It shouldn't remove any personal files or wipe the OS. It is often the practice to do an enterprise wipe for personally owned devices in a BYOD environment, but you should check.
So, is all of this MDM stuff bad? No. Your business has a right to protect their systems, networks, and information. MDMs allow them to do this. That being said, if they are making it a job requirement for you to access email 24/7 (or even for just a limited window of time which is outside of your normal shift hours) then the burden of providing you with the appropriate means of doing so rests with them as well. This often means they have to provide you with a mobile phone. If accessing email outside of your working hours is NOT a requirement - then don't! For goodness sake, take a break from the job man!
So... it is often better to carry 2 phones than to put a corporate MDM on your personal device. That's my opinion.
I know this didn't specifically address the OP, but I've had a fair bit of experience with this (both good and bad) and thought I'd chime in. I hope it helped.
how about the reverse, what can a person do to prevent them from wiping your phone?
Elnrik said:
So... it is often better to carry 2 phones than to put a corporate MDM on your personal device. That's my opinion.
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Nice write-up!! I totally agree with you, 2 phones is the way to go.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cloudmagic.mail
Access your exchange email without changing security settings on your phone.
ycats said:
how about the reverse, what can a person do to prevent them from wiping your phone?
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Once their agent is installed and made a device administrator... Nothing.
Ergo - to prevent it, don't install the MDM agent.
---------- Post added at 07:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:46 AM ----------
mikexda said:
Nice write-up!! I totally agree with you, 2 phones is the way to go.
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Thanks.
I've had some companies tell me "hey, we will pay for your service" and what they wanted was to transfer my line into their business account. Great, I don't have to pay the bill anymore, but I just lost control over when I upgrade (or am eligible for upgrades, as business accounts are still largely based on 2 year contracts), what device I can upgrade to, what plan I get, etc. And here is the scary part of that scenario... Legally the phone number is theirs from that point on. They don't have to release it back to me if either one of use terminates employment. Damn slippery slope, that.
So, unless they are going to cut you a check for your service every month, and you are ensured to retain ownership of the account, best to avoid that altogether.
In fact, any company high on BYOD is doing it wrong IMO. It sounds good, but it can be a nightmare.
Do you actually have to have work email on your phone?
Firms usually offer a corporate device, you can have your email on that, should be a cheap month to month contract.
my personal android phone has 9 email for receiving work email..........MDM agent isn't installed. I believe my coworkers who have iphones do have that installed.
Interesting discussion. Let me first point out that I am not an employee there. I'm an external contractor. So they won't provide me with a phone.
Second, their company policy is to provide iPhones for employees who need it. Not Android. There's a short FAQ with details on how to connect to their Exchange server, but that's when my phone pops up that the server wants access to wipe the phone. I haven't written down the details of the message, though. It could be just the Exchange part, which would be ok. Last thing I want is another party to have any form of control over my personal phone after my assignment ends.
Bluemail looks cool, I'll try it out. I'm curious to see how it reacts to the demands of the Exchange server. In any case, I still have my old phone which will do to stay in the loop when off-site and access my calendar. I might want to have an app that actually copies the calendar to a Google calendar, but I'll look for that when I get my new Nexus 6P & start setting up my Galaxy Sii for the plain purpose of accessing that wretched Exchange server.
ycats said:
my personal android phone has 9 email for receiving work email..........MDM agent isn't installed. I believe my coworkers who have iphones do have that installed.
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Depends on your workplace. Some are more relaxed about it. Personally I avoid it and use a dedicated device.
---------- Post added at 04:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:46 PM ----------
PeterJP said:
Interesting discussion. Let me first point out that I am not an employee there. I'm an external contractor. So they won't provide me with a phone.
Second, their company policy is to provide iPhones for employees who need it. Not Android. to a Google calendar, but I'll look for that when I get my new Nexus 6P & start setting up my Galaxy Sii for the plain purpose of accessing that wretched Exchange server.
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I know a firm who does exactly that, iphones. If it were me I'd avoid it and get out your s2. But that's me. Are you rooted? How does the MDM play with root? If reported would that provoke a wipe? Surely that can be blocked.
What about the exchange hack? Would that be of any use?
Touchdown in the store.
tech_head said:
Touchdown in the store.
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Was just about to say it has its own secure app container so wiping only wipes company info. Used it for years.

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