BlackBerry crash course?

So it's fair to say I'm fairly new to BB, I haven't used them since the old Bold 9700 days. Couple reasons as to why I'm considering burning my piece of garbage Samsung s7 and getting a new BlackBerry. I recently acquired a old torch 9810 in fairly good condition, I run a accounting firm so I thought I could use this as a new work phone. My only issue is the limit of apps. Alot of the time dealing with sensitive details, I tend to use some what "encrypted" apps with customers to limit ID theft and just in general for a shred of privacy. I mainly use Wickr and Signal. I've come to realize that I don't think that the Torch 9810 is at all compatible with the mentioned above apps? If there is a way to run the two apps, how is it possible? And if not, what app can I use on my Torch, that my customers who mainly use iphone or samsung, can download aswell? I am also looking at getting a pgp encrypted phone to protect my crypto trading but have no idea where and how to start with pgp. I am from Australia and we have phantom secure here, that's s as far as my knowledge goes. I tend to be a very private person and in a world where nothing is secure, tends to worry me alot. Any kind of feedback will be welcomed and appreciated. Cheers

Although the 9810 is good as far as security goes, in modern terms it is rather low on processing power and available software (apps). One of the BlackBerrys that run on the "hardened" version of the Google system may solve your problems on both counts. You can opt out of a lot of the data gathering that the big companies do, but not all of it. Or just feed junk or blank fields into the data gathering process I guess. The world's governments probably aren't too worried about you as long as you are not a tax dodger or a warmonger :-)

Haha cheers for the feedback! I'm not particularly worried about the government, more aless spyware and hackers, if your crypto coins get stolen, there is no insurance to pay you back and you'll never find who stole them. This is what keeps me up at night. Is the 9810 compatible with Signal or Wickr?

Number of active folks still running a BBOS powered phone is kinda limited at this point.

My guess is no, as both are by BBOS comparison... new company's. And FYI, BBOS has a few know vulnerabilities... so what was secure years ago, isn't as secure today.

Suggestion, buy a "modern" and regularly updated phone and lock it down and only use it for your crypto trading. Use another device for general apps, email, browsing and general usage.

What is your issue with the S7.... mine runs very well and get monthly security patches. Can't imagine going back to Z10, much less something older and less useful in today's world.

I don't have a huge issue with the s7, I mean besides the battery being terrible compared to the older s5 and not to mention the "buggy" feel of the s7... I can't wait to be released from my contract!

BB appeals to me I think because of the encrypted features, I understand BBM is safe to some extent but is limited because of the global encryption key, the world's governments always pressure BB hq to hand over. With that said BB also has the 256 bit pgp encryption option, which to my knowledge, is offered by 3rd party companies that run off enterprise servers owned by BB? But this is impractical in Australia, where the phones work on a closed network, Phantom Secure, and 6 month subscriptions range between 2000-2500 AUD and they use the Bold 9700. if I did decide to purchase an encrypted phone, I'm assuming the Bold 9700 would not be a secure option? Any opinions then? Thanks

Those PGP handsets have been shown to be highly insecure. Your best bet, as was already suggested, is to move to a platform still under constant development and that offers regular updates. Security through obscurity has never been a reliable strategy.

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