Device software for BlackBerry®

[StravoZ24]

what is the point of sending a PIN message??? Is there a advantage to it instead of using the blackberry messenger??

[Nova]

Messenger uses PIN in the background so its essentially the same thing.  One has chat styled history.  ie. geared towards the younger generations.

[JeremyKitching]

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StravoZ24 wrote:
what is the point of sending a PIN message??? Is there a advantage to it instead of using the blackberry messenger??

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I don't think there is any advantage. Some users don't have the BlackBerry Messenger installed, so they would need to use PIN messaging.

[TheGodfather]

PIN messages are a completely unsecure way of communication, (hance arriving in RED), I only ever use them to test if a network is having problems or a Blackberry issue.

[Phranc]

It's Red because it's a Level 1 message.  Any message that is Level 1 is red.  

Care to elaborate on the insecurity of a Pin message over say, email, or SMS?  Or even IM?

[TheGodfather]

It's one of the first things that RIM teach on their courses, of which I have sat 15 exams!!  I don't type this just for fun!

Warning: Be wary of sending PIN to PIN messages.  All email messages are Triple DES encrypted when traveling between your device and your Exchange mailbox, ensuring that they are indecipherable by anyone who might intercept them. However, PIN to PIN messages are not encrypted and transmit in plaintext, allowing anyone who intercepts them to read them. While this is a remote possibility, you should keep it in mind and not send sensitive information in a PIN to PIN message.

[Phranc]

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TheGodfather wrote:

It's one of the first things that RIM teach on their courses, of which I have sat 15 exams!!  I don't type this just for fun!

Warning: Be wary of sending PIN to PIN messages.  All email messages are Triple DES encrypted when traveling between your device and your Exchange mailbox, ensuring that they are indecipherable by anyone who might intercept them. However, PIN to PIN messages are not encrypted and transmit in plaintext, allowing anyone who intercepts them to read them. While this is a remote possibility, you should keep it in mind and not send sensitive information in a PIN to PIN message.

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That's fine for BES users.  How about the rest of us unwashed mass that don't use BES.  None of our text or emails are encrypted, so a Pin is no less insecure than regular email or SMS messages, correct?

[TheGodfather]

Yes, you are absolutely correct; so I appologise but was thinking from a BES perspective.

Cheers

[Phranc]

Not necessary, but thanks.

[TheOracle]

It's worth noting a number of things here:

PIN (peer-to-peer) messages are not encrypted but they are scrambled.

It is possible (if you are running a BlackBerry Enterprise Server) to encrypt PIN messages with a key that is unique to your organization, so that only your users will be able to decrypt them. A BlackBerry smartphone with a corporate peer-to-peer encryption key can send and receive PIN messages with other BlackBerry smartphones on your corporate network, using the same peer-to-peer encryption key. These PIN messages use corporate scrambling instead of the original global scrambling.