PDAs in the Corporate Environment

A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) is a handheld device that combines computing, telephone/fax, and networking features. PDA size and portability makes them easy targets for thieves and they are easily misplaced or lost. As the use of PDAs in the workplace increases, companies are beginning to recognize the need to protect their most sensitive corporate data and business applications, which may be contained on the PDA in the event it is compromised, lost or stolen. PDA security, therefore, should be a serious concern for every individual and corporate handheld device user. Although there are many different manufacturers of the PDA, most base their PDA on one of the two major Operating Systems ('OS'): Palm or the Windows CE ('Pocket PC'). Each company manufactures several models of the PDA and the capabilities of each model vary. The security concerns of the PDA remain no matter the manufacturer or model. Accordingly this paper will be limited these two Operating Systems.