UAE, Saudi Arabia have all announced plans to block Blackberry services that allow messages to be sent through the Research in Motion (RIM) encrypted network because RIM would not give them access to encrypted customer data. Indonesia, and later India, both announced that they would block BlackBerrys for similar reasons. The UAE announced its intentions to block web services from BlackBerry devices starting August 6th, 2010. Saudi Arabia initially wanted to block BlackBerry’s Messenger IM service, and the UAE plans to block IM, email, and web access starting October 11.
BlackBerrys are particularly troublesome for the countries because much of their communications are encrypted and sent to servers in other countries. According to estimates, there are some 500,000 BlackBerry users in the UAE, and 400,000 in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has allowed them to continue functioning unimpeded while BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion tries to resolve the country’s security complaints with the smartphones. Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission said: “Given the positive development in the completion of part of the regulatory requirements by service providers, the Commission decided to allow the continuation of BlackBerry Messenger service.”
The decision was made because Research in Motion, which manufactures the BlackBerry phones, wouldn’t comply with requests made by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to reveal encrypted customer data. Amidst this news, U.S. authorities admitted today that they have the ability to tap BlackBerry user data (with the proper court orders), according to Reuters. Security experts say that other countries have the same capabilities. The news comes despite assurances from RIM that “no one, including RIM, could access” customer data — the company doesn’t have the keys to decrypt the secured data. According to Mark Rasch, former head of the computer crimes unit at the U.S. Department of Justice, “The ability to tap communications is a part of surveillance and intelligence and law enforcement all over the world.”
The Obama administration announced its intentions to mediate discussions between RIM and countries with similar concerns to Saudi Arabia.
It sounds as if RIM hasn’t actually admitted helping the U.S. get access to data — U.S. authorities apparently just have better data decryption capabilities than the UAE or Saudi Arabia.
Related: Obama Blackberry is Still Hackable
