[Karajorma]

As they continually point out though, they don't actually have the BES keys to hand over to the NSA.

[sinsin07]

snip.. NSA said that ECC is the most secure solution to have on a mobile platform.

Most secure does not mean not crackable.

[sinsin07]

That report has been extensively discussed here, and the consensus, at least to me, seemed to be that unless more details are provided, it's unlikely BES encryption itself has been cracked.

A Crackberry "consensus" means absolutely nothing. There was once a consensus that the Z10 was selling well.

[Alphax45]

My theory: The NSA spies on people using less than secure devices/services. What phones does the NSA require their agents to use? BlackBerry. If it's secure enough for their own people to use, then it must be the "best" of the available devices in regards to security. (<tinfoilhat> Now who knows what "else" they have done to the phones/BES to make them "more" secure </tinfoilhat>) They can pry mine from my cold, dead hands.

[ranzabar]

Say what? That BlackBerry hides you from the NSA?

Posted via my BlackBerry Z10

[djdragon]

They might as well capitalize on it. They're about to have another competitor and this competitor uses the same AES-256 and ECC encryption methods. Research QSAlpha. It's claiming to be the most secured smartphone.

And I have a bridge for sale for you too.
If you need a Kickstarter to get your vaporware off the ground then you know you've got nothing. If QSAlpha was anything tangleable funding would be pouring in, it's a non issue


Z10 10.2.0.1791 via CB10

[TiredOfPhoneWar]

Angela merkel uses z10 and NSA listen to her every seconds

[Jahcure]

Angela merkel uses z10 and NSA listen to her every seconds

I take it you didn't read the Merkel phone hacking articles just headlines. http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ile-chancellor

Posted via CB10

[ronniell]

And how would all this benefit your average consumer?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

BlackBerry became popular from the corporate side using it, not the other way round like apple and sammy. Once it's popular again, more advances will come in for the consumer as now they do factor them a lot in their device production.

[raino]

A Crackberry "consensus" means absolutely nothing.

Do you have any technical information to add as to how this claim is true?

[ronniell]

I don't know.

Considering the government is a big customer of BlackBerry's, I don't know how smart it would be to make it a "BlackBerry vs. NSA" type thing....

Governments will always root for it if they believe they are secured enough.. The NSA can't impact them from being security conscious if other governments are interested from other countries.

[ronniell]

Yes, of course people will want security to help safeguard the privacy. But what I meant was how is BlackBerry going to take this news about the monitoring of government officials, and turn it into something that they can use to sell consumers? Convincing everyone to setup personal BES servers isn't quite going to work...

Exactly. That could come as a cost to those that need it the most and a revenue stream for BlackBerry.

[avt123]

Unless everyone using a BB is running a BES server, you are no safer than those on other platforms.

[habicht]

This whole NSA is overblown. I can't believe anyone was ever dumb enough to believe there devices were ever private. Thet never were and they never will be. Get use to it.

Locking your door does not keep everyone out! But because of that you keep your door just open?

Posted via CB10

[rthonpm]

As they continually point out though, they don't actually have the BES keys to hand over to the NSA.

Depending on how the spying is done, the NSA or any other organisation may not need the keys to be provided. Say that the BES software were to be installed on a server that was compromised to begin with, or within a network that has already been penetrated? At that point, couldn't crypto keys or any other information be copied or ghosted out to allow information passed through that system to be accessed remotely?

I'll let any security experts in the forum address this, but the overall feeling of the NSA scandal being a marketing advantage for BlackBerry is highly oversold and the whole 'I don't want the NSA spying on me' grumbling is just the start. I'd be shocked if Mi6, Mossad, ISI, or what have you don't have similar programmes as well.

[TiredOfPhoneWar]

alright i didnt read that thanks, then the nsa must say `god damn angela change her phone,take that nsa

[BK_NY_RAY]

It's disgusting, pathetic and sad how there are people who think this whole NSA, etc. fiasco is not true, overblown, exagerrated, not a big deal, who cares, etc. This is why there is so much anti privacy, anti security, anti constitutional, etc. crap and we keep losing rights because there are enough people who are naive, stupid sheep who think it's not a big deal and nothing super bad can happen to them directly because of it.

[anon3700711]

I dont believe BlackBerry's security is completely sound. Even TrueCrypt got violated by the US federal government and it wouldn't surprise me if the NSA or the Canadian equivalent has a backdoor into BB's servers. None of you can refute this because you cannot even begin to fathom the methods a spy agency would have to get exactly what they want and if they did have a backdoor, do you think BB is going to tell you the truth??

[BK_NY_RAY]

I dont believe BlackBerry's security is completely sound. Even TrueCrypt got violated by the US federal government and it wouldn't surprise me if the NSA or the Canadian equivalent has a backdoor into BB's servers. None of you can refute this because you cannot even begin to fathom the methods a spy agency would have to get exactly what they want and if they did have a backdoor, do you think BB is going to tell you the truth??

Of course not. The US nor the NSA told us the truth, legendary hero Edward Snowden revealed it to us. I'm sure if BB is BS just like Apple, Google and Microsoft, we will know about it.

[amazinglygraceless]

Seeing how many...umm...ignorant...people there are on CB alone who couldn't care less of their privacy, I'd say the marketing could be directed elsewhere.

...exceeded only by the ...umm...ignorant...people on CrackBerry who believe that having a BlackBerry makes their phone calls and text messages more secure than other devices.

A couple of quick questions:

1) If BlackBerry provided end to end security for phone calls and SMS why would there ever be a need for things like CellCrypt and PhoneCrypt, both of which provide solutions for BlackBerry as well as the other platforms?

2) What compromises to security exist if one is using a BlackBerry and the person at the other end of that communication is using. say, an iPhone?

[SK122387]

Governments will always root for it if they believe they are secured enough.. The NSA can't impact them from being security conscious if other governments are interested from other countries.

Yeah but considering the NSA is part of the American government, and the American government buys BlackBerrys in bulk and deploys them on a grand scale, why would BlackBerry want to take a shot at them and even face the risk of the government shunning BlackBerry completely, taking a gamble that slapping the NSA in the face would make BlackBerry look good to consumers?

This doesn't even make sense considering BlackBerry's new stance of "we're focusing on enterprise now, consumers can buy our phones now too though."

Why risk piss1ng off what I'd argue is the biggest enterprise customer in the world? The government could turn around and deploy iPhones and Androids across the board.

Then who will be buying BlackBerrys by the thousands? BlackBerry just isn't in the position to be doing something so brash right now.

[DannyAves]

I don't see how NSA can spy on BlackBerry since each packet has its own unique 256-bit key and Blackberry say they have no backdoor.

"In the context of the BlackBerry solution, we use multiple sources of entropy to create dynamic and changing keys that ensure that mobile data is encrypted and unreadable until it is safely delivered and decrypted at its destination. These keys change for every packet of data that is sent. So when you receive a one megabyte presentation on your device that actually represents 500 individual packets (or transactions) � each encrypted with a unique key."

Cybernomics 101 - The Hill's Congress Blog

[BlackBerry Guy]

I don't see how NSA can spy on BlackBerry since each packet has its own unique 256-bit key and Blackberry say they have no backdoor.

Cybernomics 101 - The Hill's Congress Blog

I'vr seen that post cited a few times now, but people seem to be glancing over the fact that they were referring to an enterprise scenario.

Encrypting data before it leaves the enterprise and decrypting it after it has been delivered is essential.� Strong encryption like AES-256, which is at the core of the BlackBerry solution, works to protect the integrity of the data at all points outside of your control ? which any network engineer or security professional will tell you is a hostile and untrustworthy territory.

Enterprise = BES.






Posted via CB10

[co4nd]

It's disgusting, pathetic and sad how there are people who think this whole NSA, etc. fiasco is not true, overblown, exagerrated, not a big deal, who cares, etc. This is why there is so much anti privacy, anti security, anti constitutional, etc. crap and we keep losing rights because there are enough people who are naive, stupid sheep who think it's not a big deal and nothing super bad can happen to them directly because of it.

I'm not saying nothing bad will happen, just that anyone who really thinks that they were ever secure on networks provided by organizations for a fee are living in a fantasy land, or that they have any real right to privacy on said networks. Sure the info obtained probably could not be used in court, but I don't think the NSA is really thinking about courts. If you want to be secure I'd suggest buying a disposable pay per use phone with cash.

[southlander]

I see references to "most secure", "more secure" in articles about BlackBerry all the time. In the mainstream press. So no matter how secure, or how much more secure, or whatever else anyone wants to debate, that a BB is or is not -- the perception of better security is already there with the brand.

So it is something they can take advantage of. In fact even if they do nothing it's already benefiting them in the enterprise, I think.