What security?

Possibly aside from BBM (which I have never used due to not having ever known anyone on BBM), what exactly is the evidence BlackBerry is more secure than any other device? Secure from what? I don't get it. I should voluntarily select a phone that sports inferior hardware, outdated software, isolated firmware, & bad reputation when I don't even know of any security benefits other than what could well be empty claims. Is it all a sham? Why did they need to purchase 2 security firms when they describe themselves as the security experts of long standing?

Posted via CB10

Apart from not allowing root access (including no custom roms and no jailbreaking), a BB10 is no more or less secure when not operating within a BES environment.

PassportSQW100-4/10.3.2.2639

Thank you very much; I thought so. Further, the same will be so for the android driven Priv, I take it. So much for the Priv name, an insipid attempt to fool the unwitting masses to thinking BlackBerry is proffering a device with superior security. Mendacity & superiliousness adds up to shame & ruination.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by patapoof

Thank you very much; I thought so. Further, the same will be so for the android driven Priv, I take it. So much for the Priv name, an insipid attempt to fool the unwitting masses to thinking BlackBerry is proffering a device with superior security. Mendacity & superiliousness adds up to shame & ruination.

Posted via CB10

I wouldn't go that far.

Grsecurity is a reputable, proven kernel hardening solution and is better than what most competitors are doing.

More importantly, BlackBerry Safeguard (for which we don't have many details) is also about PRIVACY, which is separate from security. That is something one can do something about, and is the source of more grief than security.

These are legitimate ways BlackBerry can set themselves apart.

PassportSQW100-4/10.3.2.2639

I know nothing about the superiority of BlackBerry security. I I they keep that information hidden in the name of security, I cry foul & demand to know if it's all a fake...

A properly set up BlackBerry's data at rest has always been (and probably always will be) more secure than other devices' data. There's no way get past the password in ways that have shown up many times with other devices. I read about one recently where an attacker could gain access to a locked, password protected iphone's contact list and perhaps some other data with apple's dumbass siri feature. I forget exactly how it was done, but it involved entering the wrong password then invoking the voice control before some other screen comes up or by using some similar trick. Nice going apple! That's great security lol. I seem to remember android phones having similar security shortcomings every so often.

Originally Posted by TheAuthority

A properly set up BlackBerry's data at rest has always been (and probably always will be) more secure than other devices' data. There's no way get past the password in ways that have shown up many times with other devices. I read about one recently where an attacker could gain access to a locked, password protected iphone's contact list and perhaps some other data with apple's dumbass siri feature. I forget exactly how it was done, but it involved entering the wrong password then invoking the voice control before some other screen comes up or by using some similar trick. Nice going apple! That's great security lol. I seem to remember android phones having similar security shortcomings every so often.

There is still the problem where it is possible to find out from an iPhone that the password failed before the attempt is registered in nonvolatile memory allowing an attacker unlimited attempts to brute force the password for example.

I don't know where people get the idea that BlackBerry is no more secure than Android especially, but others as well. The coding that results in an OS with fewer errors makes the platform more secure, and that is just a start.

Anyone who says that the Priv will be running a secure Android because BlackBerry has modified the OS to make it more secure, but then claims BB10 is no more secure than the other platforms has to be wrong about one of those statements.

LeapSTR100-2/10.3.2.2639

Originally Posted by Richard Buckley

There is still the problem where it is possible to find out from an iPhone that the password failed before the attempt is registered in nonvolatile memory allowing an attacker unlimited attempts to brute force the password for example.

I don't know where people get the idea that BlackBerry is no more secure than Android especially, but others as well. The coding that results in an OS with fewer errors makes the platform more secure, and that is just a start.

Anyone who says that the Priv will be running a secure Android because BlackBerry has modified the OS to make it more secure, but then claims BB10 is no more secure than the other platforms has to be wrong about one of those statements.

LeapSTR100-2/10.3.2.2639

If the BlackBerry haters really believe the rubbish they parrot about BlackBerry being no more secure than the other platforms then they are more pathetic than is imaginable. More than likely they are trying to take one area where BlackBerry shines (security) and trash it with their lies. I disagree with these buffoons when it comes to any area of comparison where mobile phones are involved -- for me BlackBerry excels in every area -- but when it comes to matters of security, the BlackBerry haters don't have a leg to stand on and their attempts to malign BlackBerry are more transparent than ever.

For communications security, BlackBerry excels with its BES option. When it comes to the security of data at rest on a handset and media card, a locked, password protected, and encrypted BlackBerry 10 device offers more security than the other platforms' devices.

I think the simplest answer to this conundrum is BlackBerry's Picture Password. I mean, I've challenged co-workers to stand over my shoulder for like 10 minutes while I locked and unlocked my Z30 using the Picture Password, and none of them could figure out what I was doing to unlock my phone. Now, fingerprint ID aside because the idea of giving out my fingerprint data to some company like Apple is just Ludacris, no other device can boast that kind of password security. Even iPhone's fingerprint id has been hacked within a week of the iPhone 5 coming out with the feature. I'm assuming BlackBerry patented the technology, because I've yet to see anything even close.

Rock'n the awesome Z30 STA100-5 on 10.3.2.2474

This post is at the core of BlackBerry 's problem in the market. I think security sounds wonderful. But BlackBerry has not been able to either identify it or price it, particularly the latter. Governments will pay for security standards, but is BlackBerry getting this premium? Some businesses like banks may also pay, but how much? Individuals don't understand much about it but appear not to want to pay for anything. BlackBerry 's earnings statement indicated an average selling price of 220 USD per unit. Go figure. Apple makes that much and more on each unit!! Unless BlackBerry can communicate it's security advantage to all, and price it right, it's strategy is doomed. Bring on the Priv, but better to define the BlackBerry advantage.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by TheAuthority

If the BlackBerry haters really believe the rubbish they parrot about BlackBerry being no more secure than the other platforms then they are more pathetic than is imaginable. More than likely they are trying to take one area where BlackBerry shines (security) and trash it with their lies. I disagree with these buffoons when it comes to any area of comparison where mobile phones are involved -- for me BlackBerry excels in every area -- but when it comes to matters of security, the BlackBerry haters don't have a leg to stand on and their attempts to malign BlackBerry are more transparent than ever.

For communications security, BlackBerry excels with its BES option. When it comes to the security of data at rest on a handset and media card, a locked, password protected, and encrypted BlackBerry 10 device offers more security than the other platforms' devices.

Again it was asked, where is the proof??? Just saying it doesn't t make it so. I've heard BB had gotten Security based certifications. Where or which certs are these? I would like to examine them. Seriously.

In the end, BB10 is more secure because it's so obscure now that professional hackers don't bother to fool with it since there won't be as much boasting factor cause hardly anyone owns one. It might even prove embarrassing to pro hackers to boast hacking a BB when the reaction from the public & tech media would be "is BlackBerry still in business?"

Originally Posted by 6stringriffs

Again it was asked, where is the proof??? Just saying it doesn't t make it so. I've heard BB had gotten Security based certifications. Where or which certs are these? I would like to examine them. Seriously.

In the end, BB10 is more secure because it's so obscure now that professional hackers don't bother to fool with it since there won't be as much boasting factor cause hardly anyone owns one. It might even prove embarrassing to pro hackers to boast hacking a BB when the reaction from the public & tech media would be "is BlackBerry still in business?"

The certification is available from BlackBerry. If you want to see them go as for them. But be prepared for what you are going to get. A car manufacturer will say a model is a 4 or 5 star rated car, and you can get the certification ratings but it is a lot of data and won't necessarily mean anything to a person not familiar with the standards or engineering involve.

There is also more involved than obscurity. Again it is important to be familiar with the field to understand. The latest example is StageFright. The vulnerabilities exited in the library for years. Google didn't examine the code closely enough to find them. When a research team did look at the code the errors were apparently very obvious. Those researchers provided patches to Google. But Google didn't even look at the patches. Another research team found a vulnerability in the patches. The proof you are looking for is in the attention from details that one company pays that the other doesn�t.

If you think that BlackBerry security is simply because no one is looking at it, where is your proof of that? As you said, just saying it doesn�t make it so.

LeapSTR100-2/10.3.2.2639

Where security, if you use applications that are not made by the platform itself, look at other platforms, they are different.

Originally Posted by quizm

This post is at the core of BlackBerry 's problem in the market. I think security sounds wonderful. But BlackBerry has not been able to either identify it or price it, particularly the latter. Governments will pay for security standards, but is BlackBerry getting this premium? Some businesses like banks may also pay, but how much? Individuals don't understand much about it but appear not to want to pay for anything. BlackBerry 's earnings statement indicated an average selling price of 220 USD per unit. Go figure. Apple makes that much and more on each unit!! Unless BlackBerry can communicate it's security advantage to all, and price it right, it's strategy is doomed. Bring on the Priv, but better to define the BlackBerry advantage.

Posted via CB10

More than that, users have to see the value to them of such security /privacy. Like backup apps and schema in the PC domain, most users will noddingly agree it's a great idea but do little about it until the inevitable hard disk crash. Many consumer smartphone users that I've broached the subjects of security & privacy with are naively resigned to a notion that Apple, Google, FaecesBook, Twatter etc deal with that "sort of stuff... don't they?", i.e. users are yet to realise this "sort of stuff" is in fact priceless to them.


Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by 6stringriffs

Again it was asked, where is the proof??? Just saying it doesn't t make it so. I've heard BB had gotten Security based certifications. Where or which certs are these? I would like to examine them. Seriously.

In the end, BB10 is more secure because it's so obscure now that professional hackers don't bother to fool with it since there won't be as much boasting factor cause hardly anyone owns one. It might even prove embarrassing to pro hackers to boast hacking a BB when the reaction from the public & tech media would be "is BlackBerry still in business?"

Well, this isn't likely the proof you want, but here's my two cents. I work for the R.C.M.P. Not in tech crimes unit or anything, just a regular beat cop, but have spoken to tech crime officers before about smartphone security, and there is a reason why the R.C.M.P. only uses BlackBerry devices. He told me that basically, unless it is a case of national security, they're not even going to consider trying to hack into a seized BlackBerry device, because it would take a dedicated team 4 months to do it. I doubt very much the same holds true for iPhone and Android devices.

Rock'n the awesome Z30 STA100-5 on 10.3.2.2474

Originally Posted by 6stringriffs

Again it was asked, where is the proof??? Just saying it doesn't t make it so. I've heard BB had gotten Security based certifications. Where or which certs are these? I would like to examine them. Seriously.

In the end, BB10 is more secure because it's so obscure now that professional hackers don't bother to fool with it since there won't be as much boasting factor cause hardly anyone owns one. It might even prove embarrassing to pro hackers to boast hacking a BB when the reaction from the public & tech media would be "is BlackBerry still in business?"

Two way street! Just cause some guy in the forums says it's no more secure than others is not true either.

Find an article or report where someone actually compromised and the end result was actually seeing data from a blackberry. It's never been done. You will find one about an exploit that was possible but never achieved. That's why it's the most secure.

Originally Posted by axeman1000

Two way street! Just cause some guy in the forums says it's no more secure than others is not true either.

Find an article or report where someone actually compromised and the end result was actually seeing data from a blackberry. It's never been done. You will find one about an exploit that was possible but never achieved. That's why it's the most secure.

Actually it has been done. Cansecwest Pwn2Own BBOS 6.0 a vulnerability in the Webkit based browser and a memory clear before release error resulted in the compromise of a small amount of data. I got to sit in on a RIM postmortem of the attack. All software can have problems. The security of a platform is heavily dependent on how carefully the coding and review process are done. If you read my post, or any good online reports of StageFright you will see that Google is not very careful. That is a big reason why there are more vulnerabilities found in Android. The fact that the source is available makes it easy, but professional security researchers aren't put off by something as trivial as the lack of source code.

LeapSTR100-2/10.3.2.2639

Maybe this is a simplistic view, but one way that BB10 is more secure is the way it allows you to choose to give an app only permission to access things that YOU find useful! Ignoring the huge benefits from this, by seeing & deciding whether to let an app see various areas it forces the user to think (at least briefly! ) of the consequences of giving access to their location, what's stored, what they do online etc. So slowly it has the chance to sink in? I also can tell you that a well written app that isn't designed to data mine users will still function without giving it access to everything it wants. I even have a mapping app that I use primarily in trip planning (how far is it from x to y, how long to drive to z). The app does exactly what I want it to do despite not being able to access my GPS! On the rare times I want to use it for directions I simply enable GPS, use it and then disable again.

Whether or not I need to do this isn't the point. The BB10 system gives me the CHOICE! That's a strong layer of security by itself, IMHO!

Yes, the smaller number of users gives us obscurity so few bother to attack us. But an OS that wasn't designed from the start as a way to monetize the personal lives of its users by definition is more secure FOR the USER. I ignore the tinfoil hat crowd worried about NSA intrusion. My life isn't involved in any activity that would make them take even trivial effort to look at. I just refuse to let a company analyze and then sell the details of my life. Not because I have things to hide, just because I have a right to be left alone! BlackBerry gives me some help with this. The other systems are created to do the opposite, so I posit that BlackBerry is more secure before you even look at the kernel, ecosystem etc.

Just my $.02, YMMV ;-)

Posted via CB10

I think it's true that BB10 is more secure because it is obscure. Maybe there are security issues out there, but because so few trained eyes look for them, they aren't found.

But most apps are as secure on BB10 as on any other platform. Also, now most apps connect to the internet form various reasons, and BB10 app date goes through the same network as iOS/Android app data. It is app to the developer to secure/encrypt data while it moves through the network.

Originally Posted by patapoof

Possibly aside from BBM (which I have never used due to not having ever known anyone on BBM), what exactly is the evidence BlackBerry is more secure than any other device? Secure from what? I don't get it. I should voluntarily select a phone that sports inferior hardware, outdated software, isolated firmware, & bad reputation when I don't even know of any security benefits other than what could well be empty claims. Is it all a sham? Why did they need to purchase 2 security firms when they describe themselves as the security experts of long standing?

Posted via CB10

Read about micro kernel architecture of QNX first. Then you can read this for a bit more details: http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2015/0...-at-endpoints/

Posted via CB10