In yet another twist to the ongoing BlackBerry saga, RIM, the Canadian company that makes these smartphones, has told the Department of Telecom (DoT) that there are four other mobile e-mail solutions in India that use ‘comparable encryption levels’. RIM has pointed out that the DoT was targeting it, even as similar solutions were being offered by other handset majors in India including Nokia and Motorola and also by software players Microsoft and Seven Networks. “Thus, focusing on BlackBerry alone will not solve any security concerns over encryption,” RIM said in a presentation to the DoT.
RIM has been under fire from India’s home ministry, which has demanded that the Canadian company provide encryption solutions — either by providing the ‘master key’ or by setting up servers in India so that security agencies here can monitor e-mails and data sent between BlackBerry users. The DoT has also warned RIM that service providers (telcos) here would be asked to discontinue BlackBerry services unless the company provides monitoring solutions.
“In addition to BlackBerry, four other mobile e-mail solutions in market in India use comparable encryption levels — Windows Mobile ActiveSync, Nokia Intellisync, Motorola Good and Seven Networks,” RIM said, while adding: “Furthermore, several other technologies widely used in India use strong encryption to secure communications over the internet. Just a few examples include — Web browser, WAO 2.0 mobile browser software, IIPSec VPN, PGP and SMIME. All these technologies are widely available and used throughout India. Functionally, all of these solutions use encryption similar to BlackBerry. Thus, focusing on BlackBerry alone will not solve any security concerns over encryption.”
While data on RIM network flows with the 256-Advanced Encryption Standard, DoT wants the company to reduce this to a 40-bit encryption, a level that can be intercepted by security agencies. (Encryption means converting data and e-mails into algorithmic codes that travel through the network and later get decoded into the original form. Globally, the 128-bit standard is followed for all online transactions.)
RIM has warned the government of resorting to any move to reduce the encryption levels. “Encryption with key lengths of 128 bits or longer protects business communications and online transactions from hackers, thieves and other wrongdoers.
RIM has been under fire from India’s home ministry, which has demanded that the Canadian company provide encryption solutions — either by providing the ‘master key’ or by setting up servers in India so that security agencies here can monitor e-mails and data sent between BlackBerry users. The DoT has also warned RIM that service providers (telcos) here would be asked to discontinue BlackBerry services unless the company provides monitoring solutions.
“In addition to BlackBerry, four other mobile e-mail solutions in market in India use comparable encryption levels — Windows Mobile ActiveSync, Nokia Intellisync, Motorola Good and Seven Networks,” RIM said, while adding: “Furthermore, several other technologies widely used in India use strong encryption to secure communications over the internet. Just a few examples include — Web browser, WAO 2.0 mobile browser software, IIPSec VPN, PGP and SMIME. All these technologies are widely available and used throughout India. Functionally, all of these solutions use encryption similar to BlackBerry. Thus, focusing on BlackBerry alone will not solve any security concerns over encryption.”
While data on RIM network flows with the 256-Advanced Encryption Standard, DoT wants the company to reduce this to a 40-bit encryption, a level that can be intercepted by security agencies. (Encryption means converting data and e-mails into algorithmic codes that travel through the network and later get decoded into the original form. Globally, the 128-bit standard is followed for all online transactions.)
RIM has warned the government of resorting to any move to reduce the encryption levels. “Encryption with key lengths of 128 bits or longer protects business communications and online transactions from hackers, thieves and other wrongdoers.
