BlackBerry Messages Not Secure

By: Zain Nabi  |   February 27th, 2013   |   News, O Canada

BlackBerry messages are not as secure as they are believed, according to Public Safety Canada that has issued a memo, warning the BlackBerry users to refrain from blindly trusting the messaging service and sending PIN-to-PIN messages.

 

According to the memo, the BlackBerry messages can be read by any BlackBerry user, hence the factor of security is compromised. BlackBerry, a Canadian-based company formerly known as Research in Motion, has a strong hold in its home market, and a lot of businessmen, senior executives and politicians use BlackBerry and send PIN-to-PIN messages. The memo says, via OCanada:

 

“Although PIN-to-PIN messages are encrypted, they key used is a global cryptographic ‘key’ that is common to every BlackBerry device all over the world. Any BlackBerry device can potentially decrypt all PIN-to-PIN messages sent by any other BlackBerry device.”

 

The threat is that these messages can be read by other BlackBerry users and that the users are vulnerable and may download a virus. Other users may be able to read the messages because when someone turns their phone in, the PIN is also taken away, and the user gets a new PIN with the new phone. If the phone or the PIN that has been turned in is used by someone else there is risk of information leak. Also, if the messages are sent outside the government firewalls and safety filters, users may open or download a virus that could hurt their phone and the information it contains. The memo says:

 

“PIN-to-PIN messaging bypasses all corporate e-mail security filters, and thus users may become vulnerable to viruses and malware code as well as spam messages if their PIN becomes known to unauthorized third parties.”

 

This is a serious issue not only for the BlackBerry users, but for the company as well. If the threat of information leak stays, the users think of switching to any other smartphone and hence it would affect the company’s business. The last thing BlackBerry would want at this stage when the new Z10 smartphone is exploring the world is to receive a hit in its hometown.