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The move may pose a threat to BlackBerry, the Pentagon’s biggest supplier of smartphones. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company has lost market share to competitors and seeks to make a comeback with its new BlackBerry 10 phone. The device will go on sale in the U.S. next month.

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The documents, released to Postmedia News under the Access To Information Act, say PIN-to-PIN messaging isn’t “suitable for exchanging sensitive messages” because protected or classified information could be inadvertently leaked, or a mobile user could inadvertently download malware or viruses that would compromise their phone.

Almost two-thirds of federal government mobile users in Canada prefer to use the BlackBerry, with the remaining one-third using either Apple’s iPhone or Google’s Android. The concentration of BlackBerry users is even more pronounced among federal politicians, with most cabinet ministers opting to use the BlackBerry. NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair has said he carries an extra BlackBerry battery to keep his mobile device from dying during the day.

Political staffers use the device as well, regularly sending PIN-to-PIN messages and emails as government business has progressively migrated to mobile devices.

“Although PIN-to-PIN messages are encrypted, the key used is a global cryptographic ‘key’ that is common to every BlackBerry device all over the world,” the memo reads. “Any BlackBerry device can potentially decrypt all PIN-to-PIN messages sent by any other BlackBerry device.”