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Sr. No.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Introduction Encryption
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The Issue between RIM and the Indian Government Governments Stand on Security Policy Global Scenario How are the services misused? How the violation of Govt. security policy can affect you? Issue Solved? Conclusion References
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Introduction
What is Blackberry Smartphone?
Blackberry phones are manufactured by a Canadian company Research in Motion and they are well-known for their e-mail managing systems and for private messenger i.e. The Blackberry Messenger. They were largely used by the businessmen and nowadays they have become popular among the youths.
Brief on RIM
Research In Motion Limited is a Canadian transnational telecommunications company having its headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. RIM was founded in the year 1984 by Mike Lazardis. It is also known as a leader in creating wireless systems globally and its new era began from the year 1999 when it manufactured Blackberry mobile phones. RIM is at its best in creating a perfect stage for broadcasting, internet services and web browsing, short message service, etc. It was initiated by Mike Lazaridis, who at present functions as the vice chairman of RIM's Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board of Directors Innovation Committee. As current affair knowledge, Thorsten Heins was appointed as a new President and Chief Executive Officer at Research in Motion in January, 2012.
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The BBM service can be triggered only by activating the mobile phone internet or with the help of Wireless LAN Connection or Wi-Fi. The information transmitted over these media is in an encrypted format to avoid the eventual violation of privacy. This service provides conveying of one single message to the group (broadcasting), group chats, sharing of videos and photos, instant messaging service, etc. In short, this can be known as a second form of social network.
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Encryption
The word Encryption is derived from the word Cryptography which simply means Secret writing. Encryption is the process of masking of actual data by converting it into a form which cannot be understood by any unauthorized person. It is a transformation of the information using an algorithm to make it messy for anyone except those who own the special key required for decrypting the same. Encryption gives protection of data when in transfer, for example, data transferred through mobile phones, Bluetooth devices, etc. It maintains confidentiality of messages/data. Encryption has been used since long time by the military and governments to exchange highly sensitive/confidential information. There are various different algorithms developed for specific applications of encryption.
Blackberry Encryption
The standard encryption is specially designed for encrypting the messages that the Blackberry device sends or the Blackberry enterprise server forwards to a Blackberry device. When the Blackberry device sends a message, it compresses it and the message gets encrypted with the help of a master encryption key. On receiving the message, the Blackberry dispatcher decrypts that message and decompresses it.
Jonathan Lim Yong Hian. [Artist]. (2007, Jan 20). Hacking for password. Retrieve 14th March, 2012.
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Basically, Blackberry encryption is designed to safeguard the data and provide tough security when that message data departs beyond the limits of organizations firewall. The Blackberry enterprise solution uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) or TDEA (Triple Data Encryption Algorithm) as a key algorithm for encrypting data.
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Nisar Abdul. (2010, Aug 12). National Security and Blackberry Services. Retrieve 16th March, 2012. Mohamed Iqbal. (2010, Aug). Blackberry security fears: What the issue is all about. Retrieve 18th March, 2012.
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The government gave a timeline to RIM, to provide a full access key which, if it failed to meet, then telecom operators would have to pay the price and dismantle the services the security agencies arent able to control. The Indian government took nearly two years to gain total control or access on the Blackberry server, to capture it and to decrypt the messenger and e-mails. The government may not possess the power or the authority to instruct RIM, but it does have the authority on the mobile phone companies operating in the country and so it had turned against them and one of the chief officials also stated that those companies are bound by the Indian law and further added that their license agreements permit the access to the security agencies to check the data flowing.
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Global Scenario
Many governments from different nations had also raised similar issues. Countries like UAE, Indonesia, Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Algeria had also got the access to the servers. The UAE government (2010) commented that "Certain Blackberry applications allow people to misuse the service, causing serious social, and judicial and national security repercussions. The higher level of data encryption has become a boon for the Blackberry subscribers, but at the same time it is also a serious potential security threat to many nations. As the encrypted data is sent abroad, governments of various countries cannot monitor any illegal activity running on it as it does not have access. Many European nations have given up using Blackberry smart phones and instead picked Apple iphones and HTC Smart phones. But USA uttered its displeasure over the ban on Blackberry phones by United Arab Emirates and said that it would put an end to free flow of information. The US State Department Spokesman PJ Crowley (2010) said that, We are disappointed at the announcement. We are committed to promoting the free flow of information. We think it's innovative. It's integral to an innovative economy and we will be clarifying with the UAE their reasons for making this announcement. Crowley also said that there must be freedom of information and usage of technology would support these governments. It was a rising alarm that terrorists did use Blackberry and Skype services to coordinate the attack on Mumbai in 2008; due to this reason the government of UAE and Saudi Arabia were firm with their decision to allow themselves access over the services and set up a local server in their country too.
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Steganographic Technique means a script or a secret language which is not readable by a layman. Its always in a coded form.
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How it affects the Government: The violation can lead to the breach of National Security
as well as the breach to the security agency regulations. Indias security agencies were the first to use cyber forensics to track the e-mail messages of LTTE and Lashkar-e-Toiba. Later on, the LeT attacks were solved when Hotmail and Yahoo had provided access and monitoring to the country. Worsening violence in Kashmir, Mumbai attacks, Maoists insurgency can be sparkled by the fact that these attacks were frequently coordinated through mobile phones and internet calls. The encrypted data would have made it more difficult for India to defend herself from the constant threats of Naxalites, Maoists and Rebellious terrorist groups. As a point of national security, fear over encrypted communication is critical in the country. Pakistani-based militants used mobile and satellite phones in the 2008 attacks that killed 166 people in Mumbai. The militants were suspected of using Internet telephony.5 6
Majumdar Bappa. (2010, Aug 13). Blackberry assures India on access to services. Retrieve 17 March, 2012.
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Majumdar Bappa. (2010, Aug 13). Blackberry assures India on access to services. The Globe and Mail. Retrieve 18th March, 2012.
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Wherever and whenever there is ground for fear of national security, the government of that country is bound to get its lawful interference.
How it affects Citizens: Everyone has a different view on the same question i.e. Security or
Privacy? Privacy certainly is a more of a concern to an individual than security. Every citizen has a Right to Privacy, but what would they choose when it comes to the extreme level of danger to the nation: Security or their own Privacy? The Indian government already told that they arent interested in going through the private messages of the citizens but they are concerned with national security. The data which is transmitted abroad from Blackberry users might not be protected, and even if it was safe, then also there must be a lot of strain floating over the Indian government. The messages, e-mails, etc. which were sent to the servers in Canada before installing local servers in India might have become subject matter to the individuals privacy. Even in the Blackberry Messenger there are many facilities like photo sharing, video calls, etc. which raise a question of a citizens privacy. After all these data exchanges are stored at the main servers in Canada. There can be concerns regarding hacking of data as initially the servers were located in only one country. The next point can be the personal interest of an individual. In India there are many Blackberry patrons who wouldnt like its services being discontinued in the country. Everyone has a particular interest in things which they want to acquire or hold. If there was a ban, then the Blackberry lovers personal interest would also be breached which is also a loss of personal interest. This issue can also be known as a social issue which has a deep impact on the personal interest as well as the privacy of an individual.
How it affects the RIM itself: RIM has got over 1 million users in India, 7 lakh users in
Saudi Arabia, 5 lakh users in United Arab Emirates and over 70 million users worldwide. Guess what if there was a ban on the Blackberry smart phones in India and the other countries? Perhaps, that day would be a judgment day for RIM as it would be judged by these countries on the matters of security.
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Indeed, RIM has achieved its status for making Blackberry phones and penetrating into the corporate world. Voice and Data, a leading telecom publication in India published their findings from the 2011 survey on Mobile phone Industry7. The Indian Mobile handset industry has been rising progressively and posting strong statistics. The handset market moved up by 15% contributing total revenue of Rs. 33,171 crores8 in the year 2010-11. The total revenue for 200910 fiscal was Rs. 28,897 crores9. By taking a ground on the total sales and data identified, the crowned 5 players in the Indian mobile phone background out of which RIM (Blackberry) stands on 4th position with 5.9% market share and Rs. 1,210 crores10 as revenue earned in the year 2010 and Rs. 1,950 crores11 in the year 2011. This data clearly states that there has been a sharp increase of 62% in the revenue of RIM. Though there is an increase in the revenue, Blackberry is also facing tough competition against Nokia, Samsung and Micromax. RIM has earned a lot of status and profit in India. Both of which certainly would have become a dream if a ban was laid on it. All the revenue they had generated would have been just a flash of vision if they werent allowed to expand their business in India. They would have lost their market value and prestige. This data is only from Indian perspective, but what about the revenues generated from the other countries? It is also detailed that there was a total of 112% growth of RIM from 2010-2011 in the UAE. There would have been a severe loss if the RIM didnt accept the demands of these countries of setting up local servers. The other mobile phone companies like Nokia, HTC, Samsung, etc. would have been earning more revenue in absence of Blackberry smart phones. So, as a matter of fact, RIM itself would have been severely affected by this issue.
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Bharani. (2011, June 28). Indian Mobile Phone Industry- An Outlook. Retrieve 17 March, 2012. th Indian mobile handset market grows 15% in FY 2011 (2011, June 27). Voice & Data. Retrieve 19 March, 2012. 9 th Indian mobile handset market grows 15% in FY 2011 (2011, June 27). Voice & Data. Retrieve 19 March, 2012. 10 Indian mobile handset market grows 15% in FY 2011 (2011, June 27). Voice & Data. Retrieve 19th March, 2012. 11 Indian mobile handset market grows 15% in FY 2011 (2011, June 27). Voice & Data. Retrieve 19th March, 2012.
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Issue Solved?
RIM faced a deadline on August 31, 2010 to give the access of Blackberry servers to the Indian authorities. India is known as one of the fastest developing Information-Technology nations. So, a ban on the Blackberry would also jeopardize its (RIMs) prestige. RIM has also lost much revenue, owing to a great decrease in sales in North America because of its competitors, who dragged RIM to gaze at countries like India and Saudi Arabia. RIM had no other option but to set up its network in these countries, as the Indian government had also given a warning to the Department of Telecom (DoT) not to take up RIMs network and to be abiding strictly by its rules. RIM had to install its servers in almost 6-7 countries as they had also raised the same issue India dealt with. A lot of pressure was hovering on RIM in the previous years (2008-2010). Highly prestigious competitors, threat to be banned in few countries and also certain network and internet problems which was its latest issue in the year 2011. Every citizen must undergo a need to put across their ideas and views in such situations, not only the Blackberry users (in this case) but it apply to all. Hence, whatever the Indian government did, it was for the security as well as the privacy of each and every citizen of India.
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Conclusion:
Our age is an age of technological transformation, where almost every work is done with the help of machinery and tools. Technology is an invention which has made everyones life a more of a peace. It is obvious that whichever the thing has a good side; it will have a bad side too, as it is a rule of nature. Bad side in this invention- it directly puts a step on security. As per this issue, we would like to support the step of the Indian Government which said that security is more essential than privacy. It is straight forward that when your area is secured then you dont have to worry about your secrecy. If a person is surrounded by the group of bad people, there will be no security, so how could that person maintain his privacy if he is not secured from that group? Indian government did the right thing by considering the national security more important than the individual privacy. Hence, our suggestion would be the support of the Indian Government giving a higher priority to national security issue than individual privacy.
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References:
1. Nisar Abdul. (2010, Aug 12). National Security and Blackberry Services. Retrieved 16th March, 2012, from <http://news.oneindia.in/feature/2010/national-security-andBlackberry-services.html> 2. Majumdar Bappa. (2010, Aug 13). Blackberry assures India on access to services. Retrieved 17th March, 2012, from <http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/08/13/usBlackberry-idUSTRE67151F20100813> 3. Indian mobile handset market grows 15% in FY 2011 (2011, June 27). Voice & Data. Retrieved 19th March, 2012 from <http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/news1/111062706.asp> 4. Jonathan Lim Yong Hian. [Artist]. (2007, Jan 20). Hacking for password. Retrieved 14th March, 2012 from Google Images. 5. Mohamed Iqbal. (2010, Aug). Blackberry security fears: What the issue is all about. Retrieved 18th March, 2012 from <http://just.zimaa.com/2010/08/blackberry-securityfears-what-issue-is.html> 6. Majumdar Bappa. (2010, Aug 13). Blackberry assures India on access to services. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 17th March, 2012 from <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/blackberry-assures-india-onaccess/article1671648/print/> 7. Bharani. (2011, June 28). Indian Mobile Phone Industry- An Outlook. Retrieved 17th March, 2012 from <http://www.91mobiles.com/blog/7564/Indian+Mobile+Phone+Industry+2011++ndash+ +An+outlook.html>
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