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BB could get my business if they doubled down on security, privacy and encryption. I'd love to see them end up with a product that was sort of like what Whisper
by trotsky 15y ago
BB could get my business if they doubled down on security, privacy and encryption. I'd love to see them end up with a product that was sort of like what Whisper Systems was trying to do with Android. In particular I'd love enterprise messaging that didn't need any 3rd parties to hold keys, and an ability to use some kind of removable smart card with a cryptographic processor that when removed rendered the phone data inaccessible. These kind of features are becoming more and more needed everyday as mobile attacks (both physical and remote) become more common as well as more and more situations become off limits to mobiles. I have a number of clients that have no good solutions for high risk employees, especially when they're travelling. It's a natural fit for BB and a market they're still the most plugged into - and one no other smartphone vendor is particularly interested in (save motorola, sort of)
- nicolas314 15y agoLook for secure microSD cards: they are smartcards with a microSD form factor and a couple of GB of normal flash storage. You can store private keys in there and negotiate certificates with a PKI server, resulting in a full-fledged S/MIME-compatible mail in your pocket. Take the card off: without your keys the BlackBerry cannot decrypt anything. Steal the phone unlocked: you have three attempts to guess the smartcard PIN. As far as I know, BlackBerry devices are the only mobile platform supporting such local hardware keystores natively. It has taken years for Apple to implement on iOS half of the crypto available in BlackBerry devices, and they are still knee-deep in badly implemented security. Android and Windows Mobile are not even trying.
- trotsky 15y agoThanks very much!
- oz 15y agoI don't have any citations handy, but BlackBerry far surpasses other vendors with regard to security. This is why they're so entrenched in the enterprise and government sectors. I'm quite sure I read recently that some models support smart card authenticators. Edit: Google-fu found this: http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/products/smartcardreader/ http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/products/smartca... http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/government.jsp http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/government.jsp http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/products/smime.jsp http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/products/smime.j... http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/certifications.jsp http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/certifications.j... http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/features.jsp http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/security/features.jsp
- trotsky 15y agoYou're right that the BB has a smartcard reader, though the reliance on bluetooth makes it... problematic for use in the field. What I was trying to describe was something similar to what we currently use in laptops. Remove the card (express card in most cases, though they can be built onto the ssd themselves) and the computer is no longer able to read or write to the drive, as it never actually holds the FDE keys.