.:Computer Defense:.

So I mentioned some of this to someone the other day and they were surprised by it (and a Blackberry user) so I thought I'd do up a quick post about it... some people may not realize how much information can be determined about you. Note, these are based on my observations.

Blackberry IM Status:

• Active -- User can be sent messages and will receive them immediately
• Contact is Unreachable (Icon: (- (not quite sure on this one but that's what it looks like) )
  • Out of cell range
  • Phone is no longer active
  • On a phone call
• Pending -- They haven't authorized you yet. (Icon: Green +)
• Unavailable -- Set by the user (Icon: Red X)

Blackberry IM  Icon:

• Clock -- Waiting to Sent
• Bulls Eye Circles -- Sending
• Checkmark -- Sent successfully
• D -- Delivered
• R -- Read

Now... you'd think that this limits what you know, but it really doesn't. Generally you'll know if one of your Blackberry IM contacts has had their phone deactivated and depending on where you live, you may also know when they are in or out of cell range (the exception may be if they turn their phone off).

Something that was recently pointed out to me is that GSM will continue to deliver messages while you're on the phone, while CDMA (which is what both the Blackberries in my house are) won't.

This means that you can further determine:

• Unreachable + Checkmark == Phone Off or CDMA on a Call
• Unreachable + D == GSM on a Call

I know, to most people this probably doesn't seem like much, but I figured it was worth sharing... if one person learns something new... mission accomplished.