Debate: Should BlackBerry Build Backdoor in Email Encryption for Governments?
When it’s your job to provide data security for your customers, it doesn’t make sense to purposefully incorporate a chink in your digital armor. But that’s exactly what the Indian government is asking Research in Motion—developers of the ubiquitous BlackBerry smartphone—to do. India initially threatened an outright ban of BlackBerry phones if RIM didn’t build a “backdoor” in its corporate email encryption service that would allow the government to monitor email communications. But since then, they’ve eased off to allow voice calls and text messages—but they are still considering a ban on emails sent using the BlackBerry corporate email service.
In the U.S., such requirements would raise obvious civil liberties and freedom of speech issues—in fact, that’s precisely what happened when the Clinton administration proposed legislation that would require a “Clipper chip” for mobile email devices that would allow governments access to encrypted email. The notion was predictably buried, and for now, the Feds have to do things the old fashioned way—get a warrant and seize physical machines and servers, where the decrypted messages are stored.
But in India, priorities skew towards national security. The concern is that terrorists, spies and other malicious agents may be able to use BlackBerry phones to communicate under the radar of government law enforcement officials. As a nation with hostile combatants just across the border, this argument is accepted as somewhat valid. As such, corporate interests are at greater stake than concerns over civil liberties. There are an estimated 41 million BlackBerry users in India, many of which are corporate users. The watertight security that BlackBerry’s encryption offers is one of its main selling points. It allows C-level executives, fund managers and other high powered business people to swap proprietary data, trade secrets and sensitive financial information without fear of interception. Such a leak could literally cost an industry millions of dollars. Building a backdoor into the corporate email system presents a clear liability. Although the backdoor would be intended only for government use, its mere existence gives hackers a foothold, not to mention rogue government officials and former government employees.
In essence, India is asking BlackBerry to cripple the integrity of its product, a move that Research in Motion, which has long dominated the business smartphone sector, is understandably reluctant to take. Knowing that such a security loophole existed in the protocol may shake the confidence of BlackBerry users and may entice them to choose a different device.
Nevertheless, RIM has stated that it will attempt to devise a monitoring system that will appease the Indian government while maintaining the quality of its product. If such a balance can be struck, it’ll likely be adopted to allay the similar concerns of other governments—such as United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
However this debate pans out, it’s clear that governments have a direct influence on how smartphone technology is developed and marketed—even on a consumer level. Technology developers, cell phone plan providers and mobile broadband providers will likely play an increasingly larger role in determining government policy worldwide.
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Tags: Blackberry, Smartphones