Insecure Bluetooth connection?

[Roof Fiddler]

When I try to access a file on my computer running Vista using my pda with a
BT connection, Vista gives me a dialog box titled "Bluetooth File Transfer
Access Authorization," saying
"Bluetooth device 'foo' has requested permission to copy file
'C:\Users\foo\Documents\Bluetooth Exchange Folder\test.txt' from your
computer. Click OK to authorize or Cancel to deny access.
Allow access
For the current request only.
For the next... 5 minutes
Always allow this device access to my computer's File Transfer service."

If I choose "For the current request only" or "For the next 5 minutes" it
works, but if I choose "Always allow this device access to my computer's
File Transfer service" then Vista gives me an error message saying "This
connection is not secure. Non-secure connections cannot be permanently
authorized."
Isn't bluetooth encrypted? And I paired the pda with the computer using a
passkey which Vista itself chose (a random number several digits long). Why
is it saying the connection is not secure? How do I make it secure?

 

[Guest]

If I choose "For the current request only" or "For the next 5 minutes" it
works, but if I choose "Always allow this device access to my computer's
File Transfer service" then Vista gives me an error message saying "This
connection is not secure. Non-secure connections cannot be permanently
authorized."
Isn't bluetooth encrypted? And I paired the pda with the computer using a
passkey which Vista itself chose (a random number several digits long).
Why is it saying the connection is not secure? How do I make it secure?

Bluetooth supports encryption, but not every connection is required to be
encrypted. That's what the "Secure Connection" check-box in the My Bluetooth
Places Properties dialog is about.

For more on this kind of separation of concepts, you may want to look into
the difference between authentication, authorisation, integrity and privacy.
Pairing is about authorisation - the passkey is the authentication.
Encryption is about privacy (and I can't speak at all to Bluetooth's
integrity features).

Alun.
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