BlackBerry are enhancing the security of BlackBerry Protect by introducing  BBID verification. In an email to BB10.3.2 beta testers, as from this afternoon at 4pm EST, changes in BlackBerry Protect which make essential device features unusable in the event that your BlackBerry device is stolen or lost will be in place for all users of BB10.3.2.
While BlackBerry users have always been able to locate, lock, send a message and wipe a lost or stolen BlackBerry through Protect, this takes the protection one step further and makes it so the device is simply unusable unless the BBID is verified.
BlackBerry Protect is linked to your BlackBerry ID and is enabled by default. This means that when BlackBerry Protect is on, your device cannot be set up by anyone else, even if the device is wiped. After a device wipe, the device will prompt you to sign in with the same BlackBerry ID that was previously associated with the device.
While this is a welcome addition, BlackBerry users should take note of the following:
[signoff icon=”alert”]After the server change, if you require BBID for BBM or BlackBerry World, etc, and do not know that BlackBerry ID or password or attempt to use a different BlackBerry ID, then you will not be able to set up the device and the device becomes unusable.[/signoff]
To prepare for this change:
- Make sure you know your BlackBerry ID username (email) and password, or that you reset your password before April 15th (today) at 4pm EST.
- If you haven’t already, please confirm the email address that is being used as your BlackBerry ID.
- You may check your email confirmation status through Settings -> BlackBerry ID, and trigger confirmation with the ‘Confirm Email’ button on this screen if it does not already indicate ‘Confirmed’.
- If you do NOT remember your password and have a confirmed email address, a new password can be retrieved at blackberryid.blackberry.com.
- If you do not remember your password and do NOT have a confirmed email address but know the secret question/answer, a new password can be retrieved at blackberryid.blackberry.com.
- If you do NOT know your BlackBerry ID password and you are unable to reset it, immediately wipe your device and create a new BlackBerry ID and password to associate with the device. Otherwise your device will be unusable.
While this new feature will enhance the security of your BlackBerry device, if you don’t follow the preparations above, you could end up rendering your own device unusable.  While you want to protect your device from being used if lost or stolen, the last thing you want to do is render your own device unusable while it is still in your possession.
