Hitting one of Blackberry’s key markets in the British Isles, its new smartphone platform (and the Balance software that divides work and personal profiles on the Z10) hasn’t passed the security rigors of the UK’s Communications Electronics Security Group. According to The Guardian, handset contracts with the government and NHS total in the tens of thousands, while the older BB 7.1 passed the ‘restricted’ security level — two levels below the presumably agent-friendly ‘secret’ level — at the end of last year. The Canadian phone maker said in a statement that changes in the approval process had affected the time it’s had to jump through the necessary security hoops, adding that BB10 has already passed similar US and German tests with flying colors. Blackberry added that it is “continuing to work closely with CESG on the approval of BlackBerry 10.” Maybe hiring Adele for that creative director position would have made a difference, or not. We’ve added BlackBerry’s full statement after the break.
Update: We’ve been sent another statement, this time from GCHQ. This is the organization above CESG and adds that it’s still in discussions with BlackBerry about using BB10. It plans to issue “Platform Guidance” in the summer, which will deal with both the new OS and its Balance feature. “We have a long standing security partnership with BlackBerry and this gives us confidence that the BlackBerry 10 platform is likely to represent a viable solution for UK Government.” So don’t count ’em out just yet, Bond.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Blackberry
Via:ZDNet
Source:The Guardian
Read more http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/blackberry-10-not-secure-enough-for-uk-government-workers/
