JotLoc

v1.43

1/5/2000

 

 

Introduction

This is the user manual for JotLoc, a security application that runs on the Palm Pilot range of personal organizers. Please read through the sections of this manual to find out more about what this product does, how to install it and how to use it.

Contact information can be found at the end of this document.

What is JotLoc?

JotLoc is a small, easy to use and very powerful security application for the Palm Pilot personal organizer. Its function is to augment the built-in Security application to provide a faster more intuitive way of stopping unauthorized access to your Pilot. It achieves this whenever the Pilot is turned on by asking the user to draw a 'passpic' instead of entering a password. What this means is that instead of spending several seconds to enter a word, now you can just draw or 'Jot' a secret gesture in one pen stroke to give you instant access to your Pilot.

The amount of combinations of passpics you can teach JotLoc is more or less infinite *1, as opposed to the restricted range of words most people use as passwords. Also, most people use relatively insecure passwords such as relatives or pets names etc. so that they are easy to remember. JotLoc is unique because it not only requires an intruder to figure out what your passpic is but also how you drew it. In that respect, with the right passpic it can be as difficult to forge as your signature.

In the event that your Pilot is taken into the wrong hands, your Owner information will be displayed on the passpic entry screen. This information may be edited from the Prefs Application under the Owner menu.,

Why should I use JotLoc?

People should use JotLoc if they need to use their Pilots frequently but don't want to have to enter a password every time they turn their Pilot on. JotLoc will also automatically lock the Pilot whenever it goes into sleep mode (i.e. turns off) and can also be set to only lock the Pilot between certain times. This means that you don't have to remember to Lock your Pilot when you've finished using it, and have the peace of mind that whenever the power is off, noone except you can get access to it. JotLoc also prevents your Pilot from doing a HotSync until the correct passpic has been entered to prevent anyone from retrieving data from it.

Features

Installation

To install JotLoc simply click on the JotLoc.prc file, when you next do a HotSync JotLoc will automatically be installed onto your Pilot. As a safety measure, JotLoc will automatically SoftReset your Pilot after it has been installed. Please don't be alarmed by this, it is quite normal.

JotLoc Options

There is one main screen in JotLoc, you access this screen whenever you run the application. Here you can select several JotLoc options:

Passpic:

Click on this to assign a new passpic or continue teach the current one. You will be required to draw the picture several times in order to teach JotLoc how to recognize your passpic. Remember to keep your passpic fairly unique and make sure its one stroke. i.e. place the pen on the screen, draw the passpic then lift the pen to finish.

Before entering your passpic, you will be asked if you would like to assign a New passpic or continue teaching the current one.

Good examples of passpics are the first letter of your signature, or a sequence of symbols such as a circle then triangle.

If you don't have a very steady hand you may want to draw several combinations of sizes and styles of your passpic so that JotLoc has a better idea of what kind of range of passpics to accept as being valid. Please remember though, to keep the combinations as similar as possible to increase your security. To ensure that you enter a valid passpic, JotLoc will check certain characteristics after each drawing, if a drawing is judged to be invalid you will be asked to draw it again.

A drawing will be invalid if it fails one of these tests:

JotLoc will continue to learn whenever the correct passpic is drawn in either the Test screen or the PowerOn entry screen, you may also improve JotLoc's recognition later by selecting Teach More on the Assign Passpic screen.

Pass Score:

Whenever you turn your Pilot on and draw your passpic, JotLoc will assign a score to it. The best score is 100 which means the picture is identical to the passpic that JotLoc has been taught to recognize. Lower scores represent different levels of likeness. So the Pass Score value is the minimum value JotLoc will accept as being a successful passpic match.

Line Thickness:

This setting lets you change the thickness of the line that follows your stylus when entering a passpic. Options are Invisible, Thin and Thick. Invisible is useful for situations where its easy for someone else to see what kind of passpic you are entering. For maximum security, I recommend you set this to Invisible.

Lock Delay:

This options sets the amount of time the Pilot has to be off before JotLoc becomes active, useful if you are in a meeting and need to keep turning your Pilot on.

Lock Time/Day:

Selects the range of times that the JotLoc passpic entry system should be activated when the Pilot turns on. Use this option if you only require JotLoc security between certain hours, for instance, between 5.30pm to 9.00am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

There are 4 'Time Slots' available to enable you to lock your Palm at various times and days, for instance, during your lunch break and after working hours. Or all day on the weekends and after business hours on weekdays.

The 12 Hour Safety Lock is designed to protect your Pilot if the device is stolen. It achieves this by requiring a correct passpic at least every 12 hours. For instance, if your Pilot is set to be unlocked everyday from 1pm to 6pm and you loose the Pilot at 7pm then JotLoc will stop the thief waiting until the next day to gain access to the machine.

Another use of the Safety Lock is to allow you to unlock your Pilot at any time for a period of 12 hours, which is useful if you are not sure what time you will use the Pilot. To set this feature, deselect all of the days and times on the Lock Time/Day screen, then check the 12 Hour Safety Lock option. Whenever you want to use your Pilot, JotLoc will ask for a passpic once, unlock the Pilot for 12 hours, then lock it again.

Backlight Time:

Select the range of times that JotLoc automatically turns the Backlight on (if your Pilot supports it) when the Pilot is turned on. This is useful if you know that you will be in a dark place between certain times, for instance, 11pm to 5am. The range of times can span over midnight.

Show Owner Information:

Selecting this box will cause JotLoc to display the owner information on the passpic entry screen. You may wish to make your Pilot anonymous by not selecting this option.

PowerOn Lock:

Select this box to activate the JotLoc passpic entry screen. If this option is turned on you will be presented with this screen whenever the Pilot is turned on. The user must then draw the correct passpic to get access to the PalmPilot. This screen is intentionally sparse and lacking in information for increased security. If the correct passpic is drawn then the user is allowed to continue as normal past the JotLoc security screen. Otherwise nothing happens.

When this option is off JotLoc is totally disabled.

Test Passpic:

Click on this to test your currently assigned passpic. It is vital that you test any passpics after they have been assigned to make sure JotLoc can actually recognize it. You will be given a score out of 100 and also told whether you passed or failed the test. If your score is over or equal to the Pass Score value, you have passed.

 

Quick guide

JotLoc is very easy to use. After installation just click on the JotLoc icon.

The first thing to do is assign your private passpic, similar to the built-in security application, click on the -Unassinged- box to assign a new passpic. Then press New in the Passpic Assign dialog. You will now be required to draw your passpic several times. When you are finished you will be taken back to the main screen.

Now test the new passpic by clicking on the Test Passpic button. After drawing your passpic again you will be given a score and notified if you passed or failed the test.

If you passed the test you are now ready to protect your Pilot by selecting the PowerOn Lock button.

If you failed the test, either try testing it again or assign a new passpic.

To protect your Pilot in the event of a reset (ie. pin-in-hole power on, or after a crash), JotLoc will automatically turn on the Pilot's built-in security function. If you have not already assigned a password in the Security application, please do so.

What do I do if I forget my Passpic?

There are no 'backdoors' or 'secret passpics' in JotLoc. If you forget your passpic, you may enter a password into the JotLoc entry screen. To do this, select Enter Password from the Menu. If you are unable to enter your password the only option you have left is to do a total Hard Reset by pressing the Power On switch and inserting a pin in the rear hole of your Pilot. NB. Doing this will erase all data in your Pilot.

Registration

If you like JotLoc and find it useful, please consider registering it. Registering JotLoc removes the nag screens that appear occasionally and which get more frequent over time. It also helps me add more features to JotLoc in the future.

To register JotLoc please visit one of these sites to obtain your key:

http://www.palmgear.com

You will be emailed a personal registration code that must be entered into JotLoc by selecting Register from the menu. Please be careful to check your code and make sure that all capitals, lower case letters and numbers are correct.

NB Some fonts make certain letters and numbers appear similar, such as I and 1, 0 and O. If you are unable to enter the code correctly try viewing it with a different font.

 

JotLoc Professional

Due to the great demand for JotLoc in the corporate business sector, we have now introduced JotLoc Professional.

This special customized version of JotLoc is available for orders of 50 or more and includes the following features:

Credits

Designed and programmed by Giles Goddard

Artwork and support by Alistair McNally

My thanks to Bob Dobbs for his many great suggestions for JotLoc, especially the multiple lock times/days.

Please send mail to: support@pdaBusiness.com

Visit pdaBusiness.com for other great Palm software.

Features to be implemented

Release Log

v1.43

v1.42

v1.41

v1.40

v1.34

v1.33

v1.32

v1.31

v1.3

v1.2

v1.1

v1.0

 

Disclaimer

As with any security application your Pilot's data is at risk from being damaged or totally deleted while using JotLoc. The Author(s) nor 3Com or any associated company take no responsibility should any damage, loss of data or fatality occur to you (the user), your Palm Pilot (or emulator), your PC or any device, appliance or living being in the near vicinity of you or your Pilot at the time of using JotLoc, reading this manual or at any other point after using this software.

That should cover it.

Thankyou.

*1

There is of course a large yet fixed range of values that represent each Passpic, this amount and range of values is vastly larger than the combination of letters/numbers/symbols of even a very long password.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(c) 2000 Giles Goddard. All rights Reserved.