[MarteeNL]

I am a happy owner of a Q10, a smartphone with a qwerty keyboard, one of the main reasons I bought it. I don't use BBM or BES.
Another reason of people buying a Blackberry seems to be security.
But how much better in security is a BlackBerry if you don't use BES of BBM?
I tried to find info on security options on iOS and Android and found the same security options on those platforms:

Password protect?
iOS: fingerprint scanner + pin passcode
Android: fingerprint scanner + pin passcode

Remotely lock or wipe a device?
Android: Device Manager
iOS: 'Find My iPhone'

Encrypt data on phone
iOS:Every iOS device has a dedicated AES 256-bit crypto engine built in that is used to encrypt all data on the device at all times.

Android:
Android includes a system encryption feature that encrypts all data � including application data, downloaded files, and everything else � on your phone or tablet. You�ll have to enter your PIN or password each time you turn on your phone

Encrypt data on SD card
Android:
'Step 1: Open the Settings on your Android phone and navigate to the Security section. ( This might differ on different handsets )
Step 2: Tap on Encrypt external SD card to start the process for encrypting your phone�s SD card.'

Auto wipe phone:
iOS: Auto Erase is the one of the useful feature in iOS devices, which helps you to Auto Erase your iPhone data after 10 failed passcode attempts.

Android:
'Use a security app, such as Cerberus, that will wipe your phone after a number of failed unlock attempts.'

So� how can I convince other people of the strength of BlackBerry security if they don't use BES or BBM? Android or iOS seem to offer the same...

[jaydee5799]

All of the things you mentioned can be done on a BlackBerry without BES.
auto wipe, encrypt, it can all be done.

What is your point? You don't know why someone would choose a BB over an iOS or Android device?
I Personally don't sweat security. I just like the BB10 OS.

[MarteeNL]

I know all these things can be done with Blackberry
The reason I chose my Q10 is keyboard and batterylife.

But what I'm trying to say. All this talk about the security on BlackBerry, and how good it is. It seems that most of the stuff is available on iOS en Android too.
So that's what other consumers will think.. so for them there is no need to choose a Blackberry, they don't offer them anything better security-wise..

[Banco]

Barely any consumers will remotely look at that kind of detail. They're not interested, be it about security or anything else.

Perception is all.

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[jpvj]

All of the things you mentioned can be done on a BlackBerry without BES.
auto wipe, encrypt, it can all be done.

What is your point? You don't know why someone would choose a BB over an iOS or Android device?
I Personally don't sweat security. I just like the BB10 OS.

When I read your post, I can't help thinking of a salesman or marketing department doing a feature comparison (and they all are able to position their product as the best).

There are many aspects of security, but in general you have to concider "What do I wish to protect". Then you look at how and if it is possible and finally how the "quality" of those protections are.

Think of security as a house: Even though you might have a secure frontdoor in hardened steel, it it not going to prevent a thief to enter your house if the windows can be opened due to a problem with the hinges or lock.

The same goes for any IT system. The problem is you really don't know if the system is breakable or not. Security analysts may find security problems but they can also slip through and be used for many years. BlackBerry 10 is according to BlackBerry designed to be secure, but I assume very little analysis has been done compared to iOS and Android.

So far one can only state that historically BlackBerry 10 is found to be more secure, as less exploits has been published.

Btw: iOS' device encryption was ... not full device. E.g. did they "forget" to encrypt attachments.
Apple admits flaw in email attachment encryption on iPhones and iPads | Naked Security
According to Apple it is a full device encryption, so I wonder how it is possible NOT to encrypt parts of the content.

I have not looked in to this, so it might have been fixed. I just shows that you cannot trust the "feature matrixes" or "feature descriptions".

[menshawy]

You hear of Androids getting rooted, iPhones getting jailbreak-ed plus malwares.

Until you hear of this things happening on BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry 10 remains safer

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[gregorylkelly]

iPhones have always been vulnerable to lock screen bypassing. To me this one issue makes every security measure completely useless. I've never heard of a BlackBerry having a lock screen password bypass bug.

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[SnoozerBold]

I Personally don't sweat security. I just like the BB10 OS.

This.

Posted via CB10 with my Z10 (Via limited WiFi connection)

[barbas79]

I know all these things can be done with Blackberry
The reason I chose my Q10 is keyboard and batterylife.

But what I'm trying to say. All this talk about the security on BlackBerry, and how good it is. It seems that most of the stuff is available on iOS en Android too.
So that's what other consumers will think.. so for them there is no need to choose a Blackberry, they don't offer them anything better security-wise..

Maybe this is the reason while BlackBerry changed the strategy and is focusing on enterprise market where the encryption of the data inside the device is not the ultimate security feature.

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[midnightdoom]

Depending on your security concerns, if you DO use bbm or other similar BlackBerry services they have to go through BlackBerry servers, which I am guessing in most cases is in Canada, but I don't really know. So if for example a cop wanted that info, they would need to ask BlackBerry, Canada has somewhat strict privacy laws when it comes to being forced to give out info (compared to the states)..

I don't recall seeing their option on my iPhone to encrypt the device, only the backups.

BB10 is not compatible with android malware, so even if you did download a malware, it is very unlikely you will even notice, making it more secure than android. Plus to also get a lot of those extra security features on android (like find my phone), you have to download a third party app to do it, where iPhone and BlackBerry its built in..

Phones these days are ever so similar in terms of OS features that it really comes down to OS usability. I get frustrated playing with androids, hate the design, always want to through my dad's out the Window. I am bored of iPhone. 6 years too long, it was nice in the beginning when it was fresh. But it just got to the point where apple wasn't really doing anything I cared to update for..

I went for bb10 cause it was new, I get to watch it mature, I don't care if some say it's 3 years behind, my opinion they are not, it works 10x more efficiently then when I had iphone. Being able to make word and excel documents on the fly is huge for me know that I have experienced it.. the integration with the hub etc.. these are all things that once I got used to I can't leave. I have tried going back to my iPhone (use as a touch) but I wouldn't be able to do it again.

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[Richard Buckley]

Encryption of data on the phone is of limited use unless you are concerned with someone getting your phone, pulling out the memory and reading it. Most consumers don't need that except for the SDCARD which is easily removed.

All recent iOS devices encrypt data with on chip hardware. But that encryption is only as good as the password locking the phone because the device has to decrypt the data for the user.

Which brings us to the most important security feature, a robust OS. Adding encryption is easy. But it also easily bypassed it malware can act as the user, at which point the OS will happily decrypt the data. Writing a robust OS is hard.

Where encryption becomes important for the consumer is in communications. But again if the OS is broken then there is nothing you can do to secure communications, encryption or not.

So if you are interested in security look first for an OS that is robust against attacks, then worry about encryption.

It doesn't matter how good the locks on the door are if there are holes in the walls.

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