Blackberry Is Not Alone

There has been lots of recent news and articles about Blackberry service suspensions. India, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi are all countries with national security concerns. These countries work to defend their national security interests, as does the USA and other western countries. It is important to respect such decisions and their requirements as long as other western countries or technology owners reserve the right to do the same.

All Research In Motion (RIM) facilities are in western countries and all the communication data is sent over the Internet and the Blackberry network. Although, data communications are encrypted within the Blackberry network, they can be aggregated at RIM’s facilities. Furthermore, those countries which host RIM facilities have the legal right to access RIM’s premises and cryptography algorithms for national security or regular monitoring.

Some countries, like the UAE, use Blackberry devices widely in their governmental institutions. Which raises questions about access to data which has been transferred over the RIM network especially with regards to criminal investigations and national security protection.

However the Blackberry is not alone. We should not forget other services such as the Nokia Messaging Service. This service is Nokia-hosted for Nokia devices. With one Nokia device, users can manage all their email, IM and social networking accounts. In other words, it provides services similar to that of RIM’s, but only for Nokia users.

It is obvious if RIM is a threat to national security because of its cloud network and infrastructure then similar services such as the Nokia Messaging Service have the same issues.