India is in talks with Research In Motion for access to the BlackBerry corporate email service, an Indian government source told Reuters news agency today. The Canadian manufacturer has already allowed Indian authorities access to the Messenger service since 1 September, the source confirmed.
In August the Indian interior ministry lifted a threat to block BlackBerry services for RIM's 800,000-odd customers in India; it had said that the encryption of BlackBerry messages could help terrorists. The Canadian smartphone manufacturer appeared to accede to the government's demands by offering unspecified "technical concessions" and an offer to lead an industry-wide forum on security. The government had said it would check their feasibility of these concessions – the details of which remained unclear until now – over the next 60 days.
Now the Delhi government has also issued a fresh ultimatum to mobile operators, according to a newspaper in the country, as it strengthens its demands for access to communication passed between devices in what is now the second-largest mobile phone market in the world, after China.
"They have started giving us access to the Messenger service from 1 September," the government source said on Tuesday. "Discussions are under way so that we get access to the other service, which is corporate email so that we can read it in readable format."
India has been pressing communications companies – including mobile manufacturers, network operators and some internet companies such as Skype and Google – for localised access to data for weeks, citing fears that some services could be used to formulate terrorist attacks. According to the Indian Economic Times, security authorities have ordered mobile operators to host servers inside the country by 22 September, enabling greater access to customer communication. "[Mobile] service providers will have to upgrade so that access to BlackBerry services are smooth," a government source with knowledge of the developments told Reuters on Monday.
RIM is working towards a solution that will satisfy security authorities without compromising the needs of private companies. If governments can access content on enterprise solutions afforded to customers, it would damage RIM's reputation for security with its most high-profile customers, including world leaders and financial institutions. BlackBerry's Messenger instant-messaging service and its email service have different levels of security, and email security depends on the server being used.
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Lebanon area also reviewing the future of BlackBerry services in their countries, all citing security fears over the level of encryption employed by RIM.
RIM had not returned a request for comment by time of publication. The Canadian phone maker has previously said its negotiations with governments over increased access to data transmitted between BlackBerry devices would abide to four principles: that it was legal, that there would be "no greater access" to BlackBerry services than other services, that there would be no changes in the security for Enterprise customers, and that it would not make "specific deals for specific customers".
Via :
guardian.co.uk
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