The obvious highlight of the display was an Enigma that raised a number of questions and was the main focus of hands-on demonstrations. John Alexander, an Enigma machine expert and collector, led a lively discussion.

Devices on display included: Heimsoeth und Rinke Enigma, USSR Fialka, Hagelin C36, Hagelin C38S, Hagelin BC38, and Hagelin BCX52

The Guardian recorded a podcast with John Alexander and Simon Signh dicussing topics that included Enigma and encryption.

Hopefully this display will continue and be expanded at both the RSA Conference and RSA Conference Europe. The encryption device display was organized by Victoria Worpole from Bletchley Park’s Education Department and John Alexander. Please help to ensure that encryption history is preserved by making a donation to the The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.

 
More photos from the RSA Conference Europe 2008 are available on Flickr

The mobile world continues to evolve, but the time to spend documenting the ways of a mobile switcher have dwindled.

Since the last post, I’ve moved into a management role but switching was still strong:

There is hope – a double fisted HTC Advantage and HTC Touch Dual (20key) blitz would be impressive.

With the Gartner Wireless & Mobile Summit approaching, there are sure to be at least a few things to keep the place a bit more up-to-date.

My first smartphone was a Siemens SX-1, a Symbian Series 60 variant. This was a great GSM phone for check emailing and listening to music. So I jumped at the opportunity recently to spend time with one of the latest Series 60 phones, the Nokia E62. I had high hopes for the Nokia E62. When I first saw the phone during its prerelease period, I thought it could truly be the often talked about but yet to be produced “BlackBerry Killer.” Plus its WebKit-based browser has some of the sames feature found in the Apple iPhone.

The verdict: Series 60 continues to work well on smartphones and the E62 browser renders pages well, but the OS and this phone still lack the integration and utility of the RIM BlackBerry platform

Pro:

• WebKit-based browser
• Edit Words docs, including
• Nokia/Cisco-compatible VPN client
• Bright display
• Sturdy construction
• BlackBerry Connect client for BlackBerrry BES support

Cons:

• GUI is more clunky than functional
• Only EDGE, not UTMS or WiFi capable like the European E61
• No built-in storage encryption
• No camera
• Too chunky (but still pocketable)

Third party products are available that add device, file, or folder encryption to Symbian and Windows Mobile devices. In 2006, Juniper research forecasted the market for mobile phone encryption to reach over $1BB by 2011.

Comparison of Native Device Encryption by Smartphone Operating System

	RAM	Expansion (e.g. SD card)
BlackBerry OS 4.1	Supports	Supports
Symbian OS 9
Windows Mobile 5
Windows Mobile 6		Supports

While attending the Gartner Wireless and Mobile Summit 2007, I had the chance to use a Cingular’s Palm Treo 750 for two days.

The verdict: Nice try Palm, but the BlackBerry Pearl wins

Pros:

• UMTS-capable
• Palm enhanced Today screen
• 3rd party Windows Mobile 5 application (not included)
• Two days plus worth of battery

Cons:

• Keyboard a step backwards from the Treo 650, difficult to use one-handed
• Windows Mobile 5 – while sometimes pretty, does not match the efficiency of a BlackBerry
• No built-in encryption: full device, email, or removable storage

Only in Texas! For the first time, I clocked a +1 MBps using my Dell 420′s built-in Cingular BroadbandConnect radio. While staying at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, TX for the Gartner Wireless & Mobile Summit 2007, I achieved near 1Mbps downstream bandwidth. Right getting on a plane at DFW, I ran the broadbandreports.com Java speed test one more time.

A full list of my BroadbandConnect testing in California, Florida, Georgia and other states is available here on encrypted bits.

Below is an unscientific collection of experience using Cingular BroadbandConnect across the US. Tests performed using bandwidth speed tests from broadbandreports.com .

Last update: 10 Feb 2007 -Dallas, TX & Salt Lake City, UT

The Motorola Q versus the BlackBerry Pearl: Q walks away in shame while the Pearl shines on. Windows Mobile and hardware vendors like Motorola have a long way to go! The BlackBerry OS plus a near perfect hardware design makes the Pearl a joy to use: encrypted push email, easy access to multiple apps, Java apps,and a trackball zips around web pages and emails.

The Good & The Bad 

Confirmation: Juniper Research appears to be the first research firm to size the market for mobile phone encryption.  The "mobile" in the report, Mobile Data Security: Access, Content, Identity & Threat Management, 2006-2011, refers to mobile phones and not mobile computing devices (e.g., laptops).  This is a significant step ahead for the market, especially since Juniper forecasts the market to reach over $1BB by 2011.