1. Air Force One's Avatar
    I thought this was really weird considering Mr. Obama is known to be a major Blackberry user. I wonder how he felt/feels about his administration moving away from BlackBerry? Curious if he personally took part in the decision and if he still uses a Blackberry himself? Here is pertinent quote from the story:

    "an effort by the White House Communications Office to move the executive branch from BlackBerry devices to Android-based phones. The reason is because Android devices with the new kernel can be secured at a higher clearance level than BlackBerry devices, McCarthy said."

    Here is the whole article:

    A hardened Android kernel could lead to widespread use of smart phones in military, emergency operations -- Government Computer News

    The part about the White House/Executive Branch is on page 2
    Last edited by Marine One; 10-13-11 at 09:58 PM.
    10-13-11 09:37 PM
  2. collide.six's Avatar
    So even the whitehouse is trying to get rid of their blackberries. Doesn't surprise me actually.
    10-13-11 09:54 PM
  3. JNM's Avatar
    Very interesting...thanks.
    10-13-11 09:57 PM
  4. blackjack93117's Avatar
    Of course - you didn't actually think the White House worked for the US did you? This will make communications easier to hack.
    barnyr likes this.
    10-13-11 09:59 PM
  5. Air Force One's Avatar
    Of course - you didn't actually think the White House worked for the US did you? This will make communications easier to hack.
    Please let's not make this a political issue, it is against forum rules, besides, The National Security Agency, FBI and the US military disagree with you and agree with The White House. In their opinion, staying with Blackberry is the actual security risk, particularly given their future plans of deploying smart phones on the battlefield.
    Last edited by Marine One; 10-13-11 at 10:06 PM.
    10-13-11 10:03 PM
  6. grover5's Avatar
    That's interesting. I'll be curious to see how it develops.
    10-13-11 10:07 PM
  7. Air Force One's Avatar
    That's interesting. I'll be curious to see how it develops.
    I agree, nothing seems to be set in stone just yet and Blackberry might still have time to get in the game, but they need to move fast, imo.

    My biggest curiosity is regarding Obama and his Blackberry...I remember when he took office much was made about his BB addiction. Curious if things have changed for him and whether he was involved personally in any of these developments.

    If this move were to become reality, I don't see how Blackberry can survive. Security is BB's bread and butter. I've never been one to believe in BB's demise. I always figured they'd survive one way or another(although third behind Android and iOS), but this development has me truly wondering for the first time if they'll be around long term.
    TheAvatar and akaquietstorm like this.
    10-13-11 10:12 PM
  8. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    It is interesting.

    I think that, at the end of the day, one thing has made it hard for RIM: they were slow to notice that more business people are consumers first.

    They seemed to have been well set with the 83xx series. But I think their inability to adjust to iOS has hurt a bit.

    I think Apple and Android went a route that I admit I thought was flawed back then: consumers first. BYOD and budget cuts are helping to do the rest.

    As I said in the other thread, I don't think the door will shut on RIM just yet; I am one of the few that think that QNX, in of itself, will have little to do with its future.
    moiselles likes this.
    10-13-11 10:18 PM
  9. rdkempt's Avatar
    I could think of thousands of reasons to run as fast as you can away from the BB, but it's interesting, that on top of this list, the US government thinks that the BB security is unacceptable as well. Interesting...
    10-13-11 10:36 PM
  10. Gucci33's Avatar
    I am surprised that they would switch to android I thought they were the easiest to hack?

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    10-13-11 10:39 PM
  11. CanuckSoldier's Avatar
    Looks to me like it is nothing more than an effort to buy American, there is nothing that a hardened Android kernel can do that could not be developed even easier on a BB, BB is already 80% the way their, and the playbook has already received accreditation for use by the US Government as a secure kernel operation system.

    I don't think that any effort by RIM could change this, yes they can try and market themselves harder, but when the US Military enlists the help of NSA itself to fast track the process, obviously RIM is already out of the running. It was never in the race. Though I think RIM should sue the US government for not putting this project out to competitive tender under government procurement rules.

    CS
    EchoTango likes this.
    10-13-11 10:44 PM
  12. Bla1ze's Avatar
    I'm gonna jump in here before this gets messy.

    Keep it civil, please. This has the potential to be an insightful thread provided nobody decides to crap in their own backyard.
    10-13-11 11:15 PM
  13. stubbornswiss's Avatar
    Always good to see mods jumping in promptly to do what has to be done.

    "Now you see it now you don't".

    Thanks Bla1ze!
    10-13-11 11:19 PM
  14. Caymancroc's Avatar
    Sure hope the white house has lots of extension cords and wall plugs. I had an android device once. Never again. You need a portable nuclear power plant to power it. BB has much better battery and that alone made me want to beg to pay the full price for my 9780.
    xandermac and Mr Bigs like this.
    10-13-11 11:30 PM
  15. SC457's Avatar
    Good, that means BlackBerry is coming back since they haven't picked a winner in 3 tears now. This is GREAT news for BlackBerry.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    10-13-11 11:48 PM
  16. Rootbrian's Avatar
    We'll see how this whitehouse thing develops. it might backtrack. I honestly hope they reconsider.
    10-14-11 12:07 AM
  17. rdkempt's Avatar
    Sure hope the white house has lots of extension cords and wall plugs. I had an android device once. Never again. You need a portable nuclear power plant to power it. BB has much better battery and that alone made me want to beg to pay the full price for my 9780.
    LOL!

    From the small bits of information on that link, they're hardening up the kernel and may be making other alterations to the OS and it didn't say what type of handsets they're going to use... I don't think military minds if the phone is a little bulkier than sleek business person X or fashion designer Y... but I can concur with the power plant jokes on most android phones out there today. Will be interesting to see how this develops.
    Last edited by rdkempt; 10-14-11 at 07:25 AM.
    10-14-11 07:23 AM
  18. anon(4018671)'s Avatar
    This is what was in the article posted by the OP:
    The Android kernel is now being tested for a Federal Information Processing Standard 104-2 certification, which is expected by mid-October. “That’s the first level of security that we’ve got to get before we start moving onto being able to ultimately do secret [communications],” he said.
    So Android is going to have FIPS 104-2


    Now this is a bit from an article on BB PlayBook Tablet:
    Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) announced that it has announced it has received FIPS 104-2 certification for the new BlackBerry Playbook tablet. This makes the BlackBerry Playbook, the first tablet certified for deployment within U.S. federal government agencies.

    So RIM already has a FIPS 104-2 hardened kernel...the caveat is its for QNX. The new QNX phones will likely posses the same kernel security.

    Regardless of who got there first the US may have a preference for American made equipment. But who knows, Android phones are hardly "Made in the USA" are they. The door seems to be open for a US domestic company, probably an already established one to produce mil spec Android devices.
    joski likes this.
    10-14-11 07:50 AM
  19. rfalter's Avatar
    It is interesting.

    I think that, at the end of the day, one thing has made it hard for RIM: they were slow to notice that more business people are consumers first.

    They seemed to have been well set with the 83xx series. But I think their inability to adjust to iOS has hurt a bit.

    I think Apple and Android went a route that I admit I thought was flawed back then: consumers first. BYOD and budget cuts are helping to do the rest.

    As I said in the other thread, I don't think the door will shut on RIM just yet; I am one of the few that think that QNX, in of itself, will have little to do with its future.
    Well, if QNX doesn't do it, I cannot imagine what will. I am a very long time BB supporter, and forget those of you who are not open to anything else, just read the reviews of the new iPhone 4s.....the feature set is boggling, and every ad I look at these days suggests a certain application is only available for Apple or Android.....nobody is writing really cool apps for BB any longer, just more of the same. And despite the endless apologies from RIM's management, having a redundant switch fail as well just doesn't cut it.....what's the point? I cannot remember reading of Apple or Google devices having a world wide failure. And for 98% of us, the ultimate in security really is BS, we are sending emails. Having a single point of data as RIM does is going to be their undoing, as they are counting on 100% hardware reliablilty, and that just doesn't exist anywhere.
    akaquietstorm likes this.
    10-14-11 08:16 AM
  20. TheAvatar's Avatar
    I don't know what they do in the government, but giving them an iPhone or Android is indirectly permitting people to play games and what not with their phones. If you were the owner of a company, is that something that you would endorse? Besides, the BB has the best battery life among the three and a super fast recharge time, helping people stay connected [to their jobs] longer.
    llamax likes this.
    10-14-11 08:24 AM
  21. lnichols's Avatar
    Of course - you didn't actually think the White House worked for the US did you? This will make communications easier to hack.
    If the NSA approves it for use at the Secret level it won't get hacked. They are not using COTS Android, they are using a specialized version they have contracted to get rid of the holes and make secure. Unfortunately RIM may have been too late and too slow with their transition to QNX because if the US government switches over to this hardened Android OS they are going to lose a lot of business. Tablet OS is certified now, but sounds like the military wasn't waiting for RIM and decided to get a working solution out the door. Probably will use Suite B encryption which is more secure than AES. Good Job RIM!
    10-14-11 08:31 AM
  22. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    ]I don't know what they do in the government, but giving them an iPhone or Android is indirectly permitting people to play games and what not with their phones.[/B] If you were the owner of a company, is that something that you would endorse? Besides, the BB has the best battery life among the three and a super fast recharge time, helping people stay connected [to their jobs] longer.
    By your argument, no one should use a smartphone at all. If I was a decision-maker, and you were making a pitch for RIM and said that "but iPhones make you play games" as a disadvantage, I would not take you very seriously.

    Don't let them have access to pencils and papers either. Heck, tie their hands behinds their backs; we wouldn't want them playing papers, rocks and scissors. Bureaucrats just wanna have f-u-U-u-n...

    Companies routinely restrict content on corporate-issued devices, and if they do allow personal devices and have employees that cannot resist the urge to kill pigs with birds during meetings, they have hiring issues.
    john_v and GingerSnapsBack like this.
    10-14-11 08:47 AM
  23. stubbornswiss's Avatar
    I don't know what they do in the government, but giving them an iPhone or Android is indirectly permitting people to play games and what not with their phones. If you were the owner of a company, is that something that you would endorse? Besides, the BB has the best battery life among the three and a super fast recharge time, helping people stay connected [to their jobs] longer.
    Then I guess they shouldn't give them PlayBooks either.

    What device do you know that doesn't have games on it?
    10-14-11 09:00 AM
  24. Dugganm's Avatar
    Then I guess they shouldn't give them PlayBooks either.

    What device do you know that doesn't have games on it?
    My Deskphone doesnt have games on it!
    10-14-11 09:30 AM
  25. stubbornswiss's Avatar
    My Deskphone doesnt have games on it!
    That's not a device.....
    10-14-11 09:43 AM
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