Although the problem arose in the year 2008, it still remains unsolved. The objection to the brand popular mainly amongst corporates has been raised by the government in the wake of national security.
The ProblemThe problem is that RIM sends the messages to and from a BlackBerry phone in an encrypted format and the Indian security agencies cannot monitor them since the servers of the company are in Canada. Hence, conversations between terrorists or anti social elements cannot be tracked by Indian security agencies.
While security agencies want access to BlackBerry data services such as messenger and email, RIM says it is not possible as even BlackBerry does not have the key to encrypted data stored in their servers.
This is the second time that the India government has threatened to block the operations of BlackBerry.
Earlier, the problem was brought to the forefront during the Mumbai attack in November 2008 in which nearly 200 people were killed. It was alleged that during the attack terrorists in the Taj Mahal hotel used their BlackBerrys to communicate with one another and to keep a tab on movements of Indian security forces through news websites.
Surprising as it may be, much fuss was not created at the time. The matter was settled with RIM agreeing to provide its encryption code to security agencies.
What has added fuel to the fire is a recent report that RIM has agreed to set up a server in China to address Chinese security concerns. Now, India is pressing demands for a similar step here. Establishing a server here in India will basically help the country monitor data traffic on BlackBerry devices.
RIM’s DefenceIn a recently issued statement, RIM clarified that it “will not compromise the integrity and security of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution”.
In India there are 10 lakh BlackBerry users and a large percentage of this figure are corporate users mainly because the handset giant ensures security of documents, including important financial data sent from one BlackBerry to another.
The statement issued to customers further said, “The BlackBerry security architecture was specifically designed to provide corporate customers with the ability to transmit information wirelessly, while also providing them with the necessary confidence that no one, including RIM, could access their data. The BlackBerry security architecture for enterprise customers is based on a symmetric key system whereby the customer creates their own key and only the customer ever possesses a copy of their encryption key. RIM does not possess a master key, nor does any back door exist in the system that would allow RIM or any third party to gain unauthorised access to the key or corporate data. The location of data centres and the customer’s choice of wireless network are irrelevant factors from a security perspective. All data remains encrypted through all points of transfer between the customer’s BlackBerry enterprise server and the customer’s device (at no point in the transfer is data decrypted and re-encrypted).”
India’s demand justifiedThe problem isn’t limited specifically to India and China. In the past months, reports have been coming that countries in the Middle East such as UAE, Bahrain, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are objecting to the use of BlackBerry services since user data is inaccessible, posing a threat to national security.
UAE and Saudi Arabia have already asked the Canadian company to shut shop in both these nations. The latest reports suggest that RIM has agreed to set up a server in Saudi Arabia to avert being banned in the country.
Reuters had reported that BlackBerry servers are located in the United States of America, Britain and Canada.
Analysts and security experts believe that these countries are comfortable with the BlackBerry messenger service as their security agencies already have access to encrypted messages sent across its network.
Shyam Ponappa, freelance telecom consultant says, “External servers should not be excused under the guise of privacy. National Security is more important. This is a pretty serious matter and collective perspective rather than privacy should be taken into account. In today’s world it is hard to believe that something is impossible to decode.”
Considering the facts mentioned, demands made by the Indian government seem totally justified.
To ban or not to banThe controversy has seen many twists and turns and the government and RIM are still searching for a solution.
While national security is top priority for the government, customer privacy takes the top spot for RIM.
Commenting on the concern of privacy voiced by the handset giant, Sachin Pilot had earlier told a daily newspaper, “When RIM was willing to address the security concerns of other countries, they will have to listen to us too. Our security and intelligence agencies need access to their data services, and it is a very reasonable demand given the global situation. We do not want to eavesdrop on private and business conversations of our citizens or corporates, but we cannot compromise on our security.”
Last week, media reported that BlackBerry had agreed to share the IP address of the BlackBerry enterprise server, personal identification number (PIN) and the international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) of any BlackBerry device that security agencies want to track. A BlackBerry official confirmed the development.
RIM has however declined to set up a server in India. According to RIM, the above mentioned solution will help security agencies to determine locations of the BlackBerry server and then snoop into the BlackBerry network to obtain a decrypted message.
The government is due to take a decision on whether or not the offered solution would be enough.
As per reports published in the media, the Canadian company is working on developing a tool which will give security agencies access to various chat services on its network. However, it will take six to eight months to develop this solution.
On the other hand, the government said that the onus of giving access to security agencies to monitor the information on these smartphones lies with the service providers.
Some believe that the whole controversy has taken a political turn with talk of the USA and Canadian governments intervening.
Government officials in Canada and the United States of America are lining up behind Research In Motion Ltd as the Canadian technology powerhouse attempts to prevent a blackout of BlackBerry services in several countries, including India.
Voicing his concern, an official working with a leading telecom service provider said, “This is a sensitive issue which has now taken a political turn. If the government isn’t able to get BlackBerry to share codes, how can operators? Is the government trying to say that operators are more powerful than the government itself?”
He added, “Forcing it on the operators is not a solution; security problem will remain. The only positive that will come is that the government will stand clean which is expected now that the US is interfering. The government should not give in. Security should be the priority and BlackBerry should provide it.”
Although this has a commercial aspect which might be negatively affected, it would still be irresponsible of the government to let go of the matter.
If the onus is on the operators, they would have no choice but to terminate their contract with BlackBerry and stop selling these smartphones.
Also, if government can formulate strict policy for equipment manufactures which has nearly delayed the roll out plans of different telcos why should the onus of data be put on the service providers. A well framed policy can take care of this issue once for all.
At the end, the whole matter boils down to what is more important: individual privacy, or national security?
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