RIM gives solution for message, internet

Research in Motion (RIM), the makers of BlackBerry, has given a solution ahead of a January 31 deadline for lawful interception of its consumer messaging services, including BlackBerry messenger.

“RIM has delivered a solution that enables India’s wireless carriers to address their lawful access requirements for consumer messaging services, which include BlackBerry Messenger and BlackBerry Internet Service email,” the Canadian company said in a statement.

However, this lawful access does not extend to BlackBerry Enterprise Server, essentially an enterprise virtual private network solution.

“No change can be made to the security architecture for BlackBerry Enterprise Server customers, since the security architecture is the same around the world and RIM truly has no ability to provide its customers’ encryption keys. RIM cannot access information encrypted through BlackBerry Enterprise Server, given that neither RIM nor the wireless operators are ever in possession of the encryption keys,” the company said.

RIM said it had been assured that its competitors must also provide lawful access capabilities to this same standard if they had not done so already.

January 31 was BlackBerry’s third deadline extension by the government to meet its requirements. The government first extended the original August 31, 2010 deadline to October 31, then to December 31 and finally to January 31, 2011.

It is estimated there are about a million BlackBerry subscribers in India. RIM uses powerful codes to encrypt email messages as they travel between a BlackBerry device and a computer known as BlackBerry Enterprise Server that is designed to secure those emails. Security agencies have expressed concerns over the encrypted data through BlackBerry mobile phones and have been asking for a decryption solution for its corporate mails and messenger services.