[Mr.G_under]

Please explain further? This is precisely what I am trying to understand. How is it handled differently, thus making it more secure?

check out this link for an answer
BLACKBERRY SECURITY SOLUTIONS TO SANDBOX APPS FOR IOS, ANDROID
BlackBerry security solution to sandbox apps for iOS, Android | Press Wire | News

[Mirk]

There is no consumer market, what don't people get..
The consumer market screamed loud and clear they don't want one. A warehouse full of write down z10s and a carrier market that pretty much kicked them to the curb.

That is, unless, of course, the BB Passport is the next big thing on the mobile device market... lol...

[sentimentGX4]

The only thing "going android" is blackberrys little tid bit of an ecosystem. BlackBerry needs this ecosystem to stay alive. There no other way.

Posted via CB10

The "only" thing? Some would argue that the ecosystem is the biggest aspect of an OS.

What exactly does BB10 even do when you're constantly using the Android runtime? If the time you spend on the Android runtime is 50% or more of your overall phone usage, you are essentially using a handicapped Android device.

For a large subset of BB10 users, a heavy reliance on Android apps means that BB10 has largely gone Android.

That is, unless, of course, the BB Passport is the next big thing on the mobile device market... lol...

I don't see the Passport gaining traction. I still find it comparable to a keyboard version of the LG Vu. I'd put more stock on Z3 adoption than the Passport.

[MmmHmm]

I'm thinking that native apps will die off and BB will be full android in terms of apps. It seems that BlackBerry plans to have the Amazon App Store provide consumer apps and BlackBerry World provide enterprise apps. However, what enterprise focused companies are currently making native apps and what are the chances they will suddenly start?

Also, many "enterprise" apps are really productivity apps that are also "consumer" apps. There is not usually a clear separation between enterprise and consumer. Where there is a clear distinction, and an app clearly applies only to large enterprises, those apps haven't been coming in native format. It is what it is I guess.

[Thunderbuck]

I'm thinking that native apps will die off and BB will be full android in terms of apps. It seems that BlackBerry plans to have the Amazon App Store provide consumer apps and BlackBerry World provide enterprise apps. However, what enterprise focused companies are currently making native apps and what are the chances they will suddenly start?

Also, many "enterprise" apps are really productivity apps that are also "consumer" apps. There is not usually a clear separation between enterprise and consumer. Where there is a clear distinction, and an app clearly applies only to large enterprises, those apps haven't been coming in native format. It is what it is I guess.

Actually, enterprise is a much healthier app ecosystem than the consumer side for BB10. WebEx, RSA, SAP, Citrix, Harmonie for MS Sharepoint... it's not too bad.

And remember, Android apps can't go into the "work" side of a BES-enabled phone.

Posted from CB10 running on my awesome Z30 2B6927F7

[playbook_swiper1]

First of all, currently, I don't believe the app gap has been "solved."

LOL! That's why "solved" was in quotes

[Dave Bourque]

Please explain further? This is precisely what I am trying to understand. How is it handled differently, thus making it more secure?

Android apps are sandboxed. They can't access critical parts of the OS

Z10STL100-3/10.2.1.3175

[playbook_swiper1]

check out this link for an answer
BLACKBERRY SECURITY SOLUTIONS TO SANDBOX APPS FOR IOS, ANDROID
BlackBerry security solution to sandbox apps for iOS, Android | Press Wire | News

So this applies when using BES and Balance, what about just plain old consumer apps?

[playbook_swiper1]

Android apps are sandboxed. They can't access critical parts of the OS

Z10STL100-3/10.2.1.3175

Right, sandboxed. Everybody keeps saying the apps are "sandboxed". Which is all fine and wonderful, but sandboxing is not infallible. So my question still stands, does opening the "consumer" apps to be serviced pretty much entirely by the Amazon Marketplace, is BBRY opening their consumer side to additional security risks?

[eddy_berry]

I think some of you guys are blowing this all out of proportion. Native consumer apps can and will still exist, but they will be growing as fast as they are now. Which is... slow. Very slow. Nothing will change. The only difference is that consumers that don't know how to get Android apps will have access to Amazon.

I use Android apps for 2 main apps. My bank and Netflix.

My bank has an Android port in BlackBerry World. So why do I get the official Android version? Because it works perfectly without any changes and it gets updates regularly. That's the difference.

Netflix will never come to BB10.

So should I just get an Android then? OMG why do I bother with BB10 then?

That's a silly way to think. I like BB10 not because of apps, but because of what the underlying OS can do. I spend the majority of my time in the HUB or on Native apps anyway. I would never be completely happy with an Android. Apps are just icing.

BB10 is not going Android. They are just supplementing their consumer apps with a an Android store. Native developers can still offer great native apps if they so choose and I really hope BlackBerry differentiates their efforts. The point is that most MAJOR POPULAR apps will still never make it to native and, instead of waiting for them to bother porting it just for them to abandon it, we now get a full android version that is somewhat updated and taken care of. That means a better consumer experience overall. That's what we should all understand. Or would you rather we all suffer and get rid of Android completely and just beg companies to make native apps? As if they'll listen. Ha.

Posted via CB10

[TgeekB]

Because buying such an Android device will also bring the cluster**** that is the Android OS. Remember--apps are optional to install, but the OS is not. And at least in 10.3, you have greater control on app permissions than Android >4.3 gives you.

Hardly true for me. No evidence of cluster**** on my Nexus 5.

Posted via my Nexus 10.

[JeepBB]

Right, sandboxed. Everybody keeps saying the apps are "sandboxed". Which is all fine and wonderful, but sandboxing is not infallible. So my question still stands, does opening the "consumer" apps to be serviced pretty much entirely by the Amazon Marketplace, is BBRY opening their consumer side to additional security risks?

Ah, this whole "sand boxing thing means infallible security separation" concept does make me chuckle with d�j� vu.

I'm reminded of all the "multithreaded nature of the QNX kernel means crashes/reboots are impossible" posts of around a year ago... Which strangely was never mentioned again after the spate of random Z10 rebooting issues started.

[TgeekB]

Ah, this whole "sand boxing thing means infallible security separation" concept does make me chuckle with d�j� vu.

I'm reminded of all the "multithreaded nature of the QNX kernel means crashes/reboots are impossible" posts of around a year ago... Which strangely was never mentioned again after the spate of random Z10 rebooting issues started.

You imagined it. It cannot happen. LOL.

Posted with my Q

[LuvULongTime]

Ah, this whole "sand boxing thing means infallible security separation" concept does make me chuckle with d�j� vu.

I'm reminded of all the "multithreaded nature of the QNX kernel means crashes/reboots are impossible" posts of around a year ago... Which strangely was never mentioned again after the spate of random Z10 rebooting issues started.

Wasn't that due to a loose battery connection inside the phone? Hence not an OS issue. OS can't really operate if it loses it's juice.

In terms of sand-boxing, I agree we over hype that on CB. Ultimately if BB can configure the Android run time in such a way that users can select what permissions the app has that will go a long way towards improving the Android experience. Security can also be compromised by installing a malicious app, but this is relevant for all OS's, and not just an Android thing. At the end of the day it is up to the user to install only apps they know from trusted sources. Can't hold any OS accountable for a user's lack of diligence.

[JeepBB]

Wasn't that due to a loose battery connection inside the phone? Hence not an OS issue. OS can't really operate if it loses it's juice.

In terms of sand-boxing, I agree we over hype that on CB. Ultimately if BB can configure the Android run time in such a way that users can select what permissions the app has that will go a long way towards improving the Android experience. Security can also be compromised by installing a malicious app, but this is relevant for all OS's, and not just an Android thing. At the end of the day it is up to the user to install only apps they know from trusted sources. Can't hold any OS accountable for a user's lack of diligence.

Yes, I largely agree with all that.

There were definitely some issues with loose batteries, but the random reboot postings vanished from the CB forums following one of the 10.1(?) OS updates, so the loose connection wasn't the sole reason and there must have been a software cause to at least some of the reboots or an OS update wouldn't have fixed things.

I definitely agree about the over-hyping of sand boxing. From some of the posts on CB you'd imagine BB10's runtime as some magical shield protecting phones from Android evil do'ers. Like the Lone Ranger, only taller and more wholesome!

[bitek]

I can see android apps running much faster on new blackberry phones with 10.3. Android apps run ok on my Z10 now. But new phones will have much better specs. I see android apps running on par with native apps.

One thing I do not get it how is blackberry security affected by android apps.

Posted via CB10

[Thunderbuck]

I can see android apps running much faster on new blackberry phones with 10.3. Android apps run ok on my Z10 now. But new phones will have much better specs. I see android apps running on par with native apps.

One thing I do not get it how is blackberry security affected by android apps.

Posted via CB10

In a way, Android doesn't affect BlackBerry security at all. A BES enabled phone doesn't allow any Android at all in the work section.

Given the incident with Aviva having their MobileIron infrastructure compromised this week, BlackBerry could be owning MDM for a bit here.

Posted from CB10 running on my awesome Z30 2B6927F7

[playbook_swiper1]

In a way, Android doesn't affect BlackBerry security at all. A BES enabled phone doesn't allow any Android at all in the work section.

Given the incident with Aviva having their MobileIron infrastructure compromised this week, BlackBerry could be owning MDM for a bit here.

Posted from CB10 running on my awesome Z30 2B6927F7

Again, you refer to BES enabled phones. The average consumer will not have a BES enabled phone. There will be no "Balance" to speak of. Thus, does the reliance on Androis apps result in a new security risk for the Average Consumer.

[goku_vegeta]

Again, you refer to BES enabled phones. The average consumer will not have a BES enabled phone. There will be no "Balance" to speak of. Thus, does the reliance on Androis apps result in a new security risk for the Average Consumer.

Alright this thread has been going back and forth too long . As a CONSUMER your data is as safe as the apps you use. So if you happened to get your data compromised because you used Snapchat when they had their little incident, that was because of Snapchat, not the platform itself.

Furthermore, malware on Android does not affect BlackBerry 10 because we aren't running the full Android OS. Why is this important? This means that if an app wants access to a core OS function, the app is not specially designed to tie into a core BlackBerry 10 function.

Long story short, the BlackBerry 10 Android runtime does not have the full Android OS. In turn this means that native tie in's to the OS wouldn't work, so at the very least you would need to purposely create an Android app which is custom built to tie into BlackBerry 10, think of Skype, they've been given special permissions from BlackBerry to accomplish functionality otherwise not available for the general public. Assuming you've done that, then you've got to deal with the BlackBerry 10 OS itself. You're probably aware of the sandboxing system BlackBerry 10 uses for the Android Runtime. What exactly does this mean? It means that the operating system creates a virtual barrier around the Android Runtime to prevent unwanted activity from occurring to the native OS.

Okay, so let's say you've made the malware compatible with the BlackBerry 10 OS, you've made it through the sandboxing now are we not safe anymore? Well, there's still another barrier. BlackBerry 10 itself. The operating system is supposedly able to protect itself from rogue processes, now this last point here is more or less hearsay but I will try and find a reference for it. Apparently that last point is why BlackBerry devices, at least legacy ones, were hard to crack into. They would terminate these rogue processes as soon as it would happen. Again, I will try to find a reference for this point.

So there you have it. Even on a device not enabled on BES, you still have all of the above. BES isn't for on device security. It's more for communications security. Yes you can lock down certain parts of the OS through BES which can make the device "more secure" so to speak but really that's more foolproofing than anything.

I hope the explanations above make sense. In the grand scheme of things it is a lot more complicated but I hope I did a reasonable job explaining it in a way that most people can understand.

Posted via CB10

[playbook_swiper1]

goku_vegeta - You rock. Thank you for this.