[Soapm]

Does anyone know whats the difference between a regular data plan and BIS. Whats the advantages or disadvantages or getting getting BIS over regular data plan.

The old BIS plans were necessary to connect you to the BB servers. Without a BIS plan you wouldn't get the BB symbol in the upper right corner. They were initially necessary for mobile data but that eased up and you only needed a plan for email/PIN etc... But more importantly, a portion of each BIS monthly fee went to BB. That was their bread and butter...

Now you can hit the BB servers (get the BB symbol) without a BIS plan so as stated, BIS plans are no longer needed...

[hapishyguy]

I know that part. What I wanted to know is that in terms of security what is the difference between regular data plan and BIS plan as TMobile still offers BIS with regular data plan.

[Jerry A]

I know that part. What I wanted to know is that in terms of security what is the difference between regular data plan and BIS plan as TMobile still offers BIS with regular data plan.

The BIS feature on your service just allows you to use a BBOS device (since those devices need to connect to BIS servers to work). Doesn't do anything for any other phone (BB or otherwise).

[Soapm]

I know that part. What I wanted to know is that in terms of security what is the difference between regular data plan and BIS plan as TMobile still offers BIS with regular data plan.

Security... BIS plans included a secure pipe, similar to VPN, from your device, through the carrier over to the BB servers. If your company had BES then that security continued to their BES servers. This was very secure for the companies INTRAnet, email etc... but what's the point if you're pulling up a public web page or getting your mail from google??? That's like driving an armored care from your bank only to leave your wallet on your front lawn...

[Soapm]

The BIS feature on your service just allows you to use a BBOS device (since those devices need to connect to BIS servers to work). Doesn't do anything for any other phone (BB or otherwise).

Don't BB10 users on BES still need a BIS plan or did they create a new secure tunnel to the device?

[Richard Buckley]

Security... BIS plans included a secure pipe, similar to VPN, from your device, through the carrier over to the BB servers. If your company had BES then that security continued to their BES servers. This was very secure for the companies INTRAnet, email etc... but what's the point if you're pulling up a public web page or getting your mail from google??? That's like driving an armored care from your bank only to leave your wallet on your front lawn...

This is not true BIS never included encryption. BES was, and still is encrypted between the phone and the BES server.

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[Jerry A]

Don't BB10 users on BES still need a BIS plan or did they create a new secure tunnel to the device?

The device creates it's own secure tunnel. Not really necessary for a man-in-the-middle server with modern equipment.

[Richard Buckley]

Don't BB10 users on BES still need a BIS plan or did they create a new secure tunnel to the device?

There is lots of documentation on the web about how BES and BIS work, but here is a simplified description. BES established encryption between the device and the BES server at the enterprise. BlackBerry servers aren't involved in the cryptography so BlackBerry cannot decrypt it. When you remove the server there is nothing for the device to establish an encrypted link to so it is in the clear. Remember that this was designed before the days when encryption was not in widespread use, or even common on the Internet and BIS was intended for consumers.

What was needed, and what BlackBerry provided that was a game changer was reliable and affordable data worldwide for traveling. They did this by embedding a BlackBerry (RIM at the time) server in most cellphone carriers' fron end networks with a direct link back to RIM server centres.

Things have changed. The use of TLS based encryption is widespread and reliable cheap (comparatively) data is available almost world wide. BIS/BES can still provide some advantage in some circumstances, grandfathered tariffs is one, reliable communications in some locations or for government and emergency services. BB10 devices on BIS will not receive data compression however.


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[diegonei]

Why did you guys did up a 2 years old thread? o.o

[hapishyguy]

I was searching for a thread that showed the info between a regular data plan and BIS so this one came up and I started reading it.

[Soapm]

This is not true BIS never included encryption. BES was, and still is encrypted between the phone and the BES server.

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I stand corrected, all this time I thought it was encrypted which is what made it "secure"...

[Richard Buckley]

I stand corrected, all this time I thought it was encrypted which is what made it "secure"...

A lot of people assumed the same thing but RIM never said it was. I think a lot of confusion comes from the the countries that demanded access to BBM. People naturally assumed that if it wasn't encrypted they would just wiretap it. I don't know why that wasn't done. Maybe the countries in question didn't have the capability of processing the protocol even in the clear, maybe the RIM front end system diverted the data before it got to the law enforcement equipment. What ever the issue was every time RIM set up a NOC in a new country to comply with local law enforcement requirements a lot of people would make definitive statements that were just wrong. A common one being that RIM was giving the country in question access to their highly secure or encrypted data. Of course it depends what is meant by highly secure, or encryption. To some maybe the fact that the countries needed help indicated it was highly secure. To some maybe the 3DES fixed key scrambling of BBM counts as encryption.

Of course all BBM on BB10 is protected by TLS as is almost all email and social media. Of course this applies to iOS, Android and Windows Phone too. Sometimes people forget how much the world has changed since FireSheep.




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