Go-Go Gadget: too secure? Posted by konnectsc on August 8, 2010 · Leave a Comment

In a world where everyone is connected all the time, I’d like to believe that we have reached a stage where the security of our personal information is of the utmost importance. Realistically, within the confines of our technologically sluggish nation, it has only been in very recent times where we have bought communication up to another level. It’s of a very common occurrence now to see commuters – people on the go – tapping away at their smart phones, reconnecting with long-forgotten mates on FaceBook, connecting with colleagues on Linkedin, buying second and first hand goods on the world wide garage sale known as eBay and, on very rare occasions, making a call.

This brings me to the latest development, which has caused a buzz all over the gizmo world, that is, the latest Blackberry security debacle. As consumers of the digital age, we’ve seen a plethora of such incidences take place, a new exploit, a new worm or virus that will melt our hard drives and un-friend our friends. But, on the contrary, the Blackberry, well known for its corporate appeal, has been given the axe by several foreign governments for being too secure.

No, that’s not a typo, Rim the Canadian based firm responsible for the Blackberry has come under fire for encrypting it’s servers, allowing its subscribers to send and receive data securely, to the extent where it is so well protected that employers are unable to monitor (did someone say spy?) on the traffic that is being sent to and from the device. As of October the 11th a growing number of nations including Saudi Arabia, India and Indonesia plan to give Blackberry services the boot in favour of other, less encrypted, more easily monitored upon smart phones.

It just goes to show, no matter what you do, sometimes you just can’t come out on top. Perhaps Rim should take a page out of Apple’s book and leave massive gaping security holes for hackers to exploit.