BlackBerry clarifies, communications safe

By Our Correspondent

New delhi

May 26: In a new twist to BlackBerry controversy, its makers Research In Motion (RIM) said on Monday that it doesn’t posses any master key which will allow it or any third party to gain unauthorised access to corporate data.

BlackBerry security architecture for enterprise customers is based on a symmetric key system whereby the customer creates their own key and only the customer possesses a copy of their encryption key, said the company.

The government and BlackBerry have been discussing the ways by which mails sent via the devicecould be intercepted. The emails sent through BlackBerry are encrypted at 256-bit level, whereas India’s security agencies can intercept only 40-bit encryption.

Centre had asked RIM to either provide it with the key or set up a server in India. There were reports in media that the company has agreed to give the keys.

BlackBerry said that security architecture for enterprise customers is purposely designed to exclude the capability for RIM or any third party to read encrypted information under any circumstances.

The company said that it would simply be unable to accommodate any request for a copy of a customer’s encryption key since at no time does RIM ever possess a copy of the key.

The statement was issued by RIM to its customers to allay fears that corporate emails sent through Blackberry may no longer be safe.