KB16466 - Recommendation on the use of administrative roles in the BlackBerry Manager

Environment

* BlackBerry® Enterprise Server version 4.1.x for IBM® Lotus® Domino®
* BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 4.1.x for Microsoft® Exchange
* BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 4.1.x for Novell® GroupWise®

Details

The BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 4.1.x for Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise uses predefined roles, which correspond to common corporate administrative roles, to control who can perform specific tasks. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server administrator can assign database users—either trusted Microsoft® Windows® users or groups, or SQL logins—to each role.

The BlackBerry Manager allows the BlackBerry Enterprise Server administrator to assign other administrators to roles that group the different types of BlackBerry Enterprise Server administration tasks. When administrators start the BlackBerry Manager, the BlackBerry Manager checks their authentication credentials, determines their administrative role, and then displays a list of tasks that that role is intended to complete.

The available roles are designed to group trusted administrators according to the scope of their administrative responsibility. These roles are: "Security administrator," "Enterprise administrator," "Device administrator," "Senior help desk administrator," "Junior help desk administrator" and their audit role counterparts, such as "Audit Security administrator."

See the BlackBerry Enterprise Server System Administration Guide for more information about the administrative roles included in the BlackBerry Manager.

Recommendation

Research In Motion (RIM) recommends that the administrative roles in the BlackBerry Manager be used only to group trusted administrators according to the scope of their administrative responsibility, not for an explicit security purpose, such as limiting access to sensitive data.

Additional Information

See the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution Security Technical Overview for more information about BlackBerry® Enterprise Solution security features and an overview of the BlackBerry security architecture.

Visit www.blackberry.com/security for more information on BlackBerry security.

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