Interpac Business and Migration Solutions Melbourne Australia

(August 5, 2010)

AUSTRALIA will not ban BlackBerry services despite moves by Middle East nations to stop the wireless email service.

BlackBerry's Canadian maker, Research In Motion, is being pressured by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries for access to encrypted information on the BlackBerry.

The countries plan to ban the BlackBerry service because it allows citizens' email conversations and web surfing history to remain confidential.

Saudi Arabia's telecoms regulator said it would stop BlackBerry services from August 5, while its counterpart in the UAE would make a similar move from October 11.

Countries such as India have voiced concerns over RIM's tough security standards, which the Asian nation argues makes it difficult to monitor terrorist activity. Despite the pressure, RIM intends to stand firm - a move applauded by analyst Ovum.

RIM said it does not give any government access to BlackBerry messenger, email, and web-browsing information.

Australia's federal Attorney-General's Department did not comment on whether it had requested access to encrypted data.

"The Attorney-General's Department regularly works with international and domestic service providers, however, it would be inappropriate to comment on any individual service provider," a department spokesman said.

However, he confirmed that there were no bans or restrictions on BlackBerry services in Australia, nor has the government considered following in the footsteps of Saudi Arabia and UAE.

An Australian spokeswoman for RIM would not say if Saudi Arabia and the UAE were wrong in banning its products. The company indicated there were no double standards when it came to attending government requests.

"There is only one BlackBerry enterprise solution available to our customers around the world and it remains unchanged in all of the markets we operate in," the RIM Australia spokeswoman said.

"RIM cooperates with all governments with a consistent standard and the same degree of respect.

"Any claims that we provide, or have ever provided, something unique to the government of one country that we have not offered to the governments of all countries, are unfounded."

She said the BlackBerry enterprise solution was designed to preclude RIM, or any third party, from reading encrypted information under any circumstances since the company does not store or have access to the encrypted data.

"RIM cannot accommodate any request for a copy of a customer's encryption key, since at no time does RIM, or any wireless network operator or any third party, ever possess a copy of the key.

"This means that customers of the BlackBerry enterprise solution can maintain confidence in the integrity of the security architecture without fear of compromise," she said.

Ovum has urged RIM not to cave into pressure from governments, although, it faced tough days ahead.

"This situation will be a challenging one for RIM to resolve,'' Ovum said. “Developing nations are a large and growing market that it cannot afford to alienate.''

"On the other hand, RIM's security policy is unambiguous: 'The BlackBerry security architecture for enterprise customers is purposefully designed to exclude the capability for RIM or any third party to read encrypted information under any circumstances.'

"The strength of RIM's security is a core part of its unique selling proposition."

Ovum said RIM would be better to withdraw from countries that do not yet see the value of its unique, globally secure service offering.

"There is an irony in the fact that government agencies are themselves large users of the BlackBerry platform. Agencies were initially wary of the security risks of RIM's Canadian-hosted email service, but are now comfortable with the security of the platform.

"However, this comfort rests on the assumption that RIM does not compromise the security of individual users by allowing 'back door' access - to anyone. The biggest fear of some government agencies is that the security and intelligence services of an unfriendly foreign power could have access to their emails," Ovum said.

(Source:Australian)