Was BlackBerry deal ever made?

Wonder security experts, as RIM denies any data sharing agreement with Indian security agencies

With Research In Motion's (RIM) Canada office issuing an official denial that it had agreed to turn over corporate data sent to and from BlackBerry devices to Indian security agencies, security experts have begun to question the credibility of previous reports in a section of the media.

"Communication between a corporate BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) and a BlackBerry handset are encrypted with a key that is shared only between those two devices.



Assuming that interception is even possible, how will the intercepted communication be read without the key?" a senior security expert formerly working for the Indian Navy told MiD DAY.

The Indian government's chief concern is about communication between corporate BlackBerry devices using enterprise servers. Organisations using their own BES host their own servers and encryption keys which only these organisations can use to unscramble encrypted emails and messages thereby offering a higher level of security.

Official denial

RIM is supposed to provide live access to BES by the end of December to avoid a ban in India. But from its latest communique, it appears as if the company is in a mode of defiance.

In its official denial, RIM insists that it will make no changes to the security architecture of BES.
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"Some speculation has suggested that RIM might offer encryption keys to government bodies, allowing them to access corporate data sent through the BES. But RIM truly has no ability to provide its customers' encryption keys," its official communique said.

The company also said that it has a consistent global standard for lawful access requirements and it does not make special deals in specific countries.

However, cyber security expert Vijay Mukhi has a different view altogether. "At the end of the day, we will never get to know what is happening.
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For all we know, RIM must be merely telling all this for public consumption. There is no longer any talk of setting up a RIM server in India.

This could even mean that RIM has already agreed to do so. All this must have been discussed with CSIS Director Richard B Fadden, but we might simply never get to know about it," he said.