[ISN] BlackBerry has to pass security muster in 15 days

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Hardware/BlackBerry-has-to-pass-security-muster-in-15-days/articleshow/6112344.cms?curpg=1

The Economic Times
1 July 2010

NEW DELHI: Security concerns associated with the services of BlackBerry, 
the smartphone used by nearly a million customers in India, have come to 
the fore again, raising the possibility of a fresh standoff between the 
Canadian service provider and the government.

The government plans to give BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) 
15 days to ensure that its email and other data services comply with 
'formats that can be read by security and intelligence agencies' after 
its spooks recently raised a red flag against the popular handset, said 
department of telecom (DoT) officials familiar with the matter.

Senior officials of key security agencies in a recent meeting argued 
that the continuation of BlackBerry services in the present format 
presents a danger to the country, said these persons who were part of 
the discussions. The meet was chaired by home secretary GK Pillai and 
attended by representatives of the home ministry, DoT, intelligence 
agencies and the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO).

The government's move is surprising because it had said in late 2008 
that all security concerns associated with these devices have been 
resolved. The government had then, too, threatened to ban the Canadian 
company's services in India.

[...]


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