The folks working on the security-centric Android-powered Blackphone have posted a rebuttal to the criticisms made by BlackBerry recently. The piece focuses primarily on BlackBerry's poor market performance, dwindling stock price, and ultimate reliance on competing platforms.
The main selling point Blackphone CEO Toby Weir-Jones posited for their product compared to BlackBerry was encrypted peer-to-peer voice calling, though it continues on to describe the BES infrastructure as restrictive and ineffectual. He even goes so far as to say BlackBerry's previous tiffs with local governments over lawful interception resulted in betrayals of customers.
Here are a few key excerpts.
"Unfortunately, the world discovered in 2010 that RIM was willing to compromise its integrity if sufficient pressure was applied by governments intent on spying on the messages sent via the ubiquitous devices. Various statements from the Saudi, UAE, Indian, and other telecom regulatory bodies all confirmed the same thing: RIM made it technically possible for the formerly-secret encrypted messages to be decrypted and viewed. Much speculation surrounds exactly what was done, and whether it remains in place today, but if anything there was more than one approach which achieved the same basic goal: a betrayal of the objectives of privacy."
"In the past five years, the drop is still almost 83%, and that's including the recent bump following Blackberry's announcement that, at last, they're opening up their own Blackberry Enterprise Server to manage the devices people actually buy: namely, iOS and Android."
"This touches upon a key point: our approach is attractive because the technology and architecture of the Blackphone ecosystem is more flexible, more transparent, and more usable. Closed systems — like BES and Mr. McGarvey's beloved EMM approach — are not attuned to how most enterprises are deploying mobility solutions today."
Those are some strong words. Be sure to check out the full editorial at the link below. What do you guys think? Are there viable alternative infrastructures that maintain security? Does Blackphone actually stand a chance at addressing the security concerns that BlackBerry has traditionally met?
Source: Blackphone
Read more
PRIV named one of the most secure Android smartphones of 2016
Google's annual Android Security Review names PRIV one of the most secure smartphones of last year. While rather unsurprising to most of us here, there are some areas of the report that BlackBerry's software efforts receive some substantial kudos.
BlackBerry discusses Blackphone and why its consumer-grade privacy is inadequate for businesses
After gathering some hype following its announcement, the Blackphone has started shipping to customers who pre-ordered the device. For those who aren't familiar with the Blackphone, it's a result of a partnership between Spanish manufacturer Geeksphone and security company Silent Circle and uses a specialized build of Android called PrivatOS, which the company has dubbed 'an...
How Go Talk intends to be the BlackBerry of mobile carriers
Identity theft often goes through an unexpected route: conning the carrier. Go Talk Wireless wants to stamp out SIM swap fraud at the source.
BlackBerry KEY2 software update ACN424 now available
If you haven't already got it downloaded and installed, go ahead and check for updates, and it just might be waiting for you.