Friday, December 31, 2010

BlackBerry says India can't access encrypted data

BlackBerry says India can't access encrypted data

Denying reports that it has agreed to allow access to its encrypted corporate data to Indian authorities, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) on Thursday said unscrambling encrypted email on its devices is simply not "technologically feasible." India has been seeking access to all encryptedcommunications as the terrorists involved the 2008 Mumbai attack communicated with their handlers by using sophisticated technology. It wants the Canadian company to install a server in India to monitor this service.

However, RIM, which has got two reprieves since August and assured a solution by Jan 31, is not willing to compromise on the privacy of this encrypted service which has made its smart phones a darling of businesses.

Reacting to the report from New Delhi that it has agreed to installation of a 'network data analysis system' in India to let security agencies check secure BlackBerry data, RIM said it is 'inaccurate and misleading.'

The report conveys the impression as if it is "somehow enabling access to data" transmitted through its business server system, RIM told the Canadian Press.

"This is both false and technologically infeasible," it said.

This so-called "network data analysis system" is just a tool required to allow carriers in India to provide lawful access to its consumer services, including its instant messaging service, RIM was quoted as saying.

"This is not new information as RIM has repeatedly confirmed that it is co-operating with the government of India and enabling carriers to lawfully access consumer services to the same degree imposed on RIM's competitors in India."


Test BlackBerry’s interception system: Home ministry to DoT

Test BlackBerry’s interception system: Home ministry to DoT

NEW DELHI: India’s interior ministry has asked the telecoms department to validate BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion’s claims that it had installed a ‘cloud computing-based system’ to legally intercept messenger services on its handsets.

Earlier this month Canada’s RIM had told the home ministry that it had complied with the Indian government’s mandate to provide interception tools for BlackBerry messenger chats

“We are happy to confirm that as per the compliance schedule agreed by both Research in Motion and the Ministry Of Home Affairs, RIM infrastructure is ready to receive and process via the cloud computing-based system, lawfully intercepted BlackBerry messenger data from India service providers,” the Canadian company’s vice-president of industry, government and university relations Robert E Crow had said in a communication to the home ministry.

In a communication to the telecoms department, home ministry’s joint secretary Dharmendra Sharma said that RIM had agreed to provide a final solution to its messenger chat services by January 31, 2001, while adding that ‘according to the Canadian company, the cloud-based computing system was the final solution it was putting in place by January-end’ for this facility.

On Thursday, ET had reported that RIM had offered to install a network data analysis system at its premises in India, to end the three-year standoff between the Canadian company and security agencies here that have been demanding access to BlackBerry communications. But RIM on Thursday in a statement said that it had not provided any access to its highly-secure corporate emails.