BlackBerry beefs up its message security

BlackBerry has beefed up its secure messaging service in an effort to win back customers in the corporate sector. Image: Crackberry

The BBM Protected application for messaging between the company's lines of smartphones uses the FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic library, the US government computer security standard.

In a statement, BlackBerry claimed it is the most secure and reliable real-time mobile messaging available.

The company said it scrambles messages on a sender's device and then authenticates and decrypts them on the receiver's smartphone.

BlackBerry helped create a culture of mobile users glued to smartphones, but lost its lustre as many users moved to iPhones or Android devices.

After posting record losses last year, BlackBerry brought in new management and outsourced its handset production to Taiwan-based Foxconn.

Although its high security has come to define BlackBerry's advantage over its competitors, the company has cooperated with police investigations in several countries by providing access to its customers' messages.

Last week, Canadian federal police announced the arrest of 33 alleged mobsters in Montreal after combing through one million BlackBerry messages sent between them since 2010.

Intercepted BBM messages also helped Los Angeles authorities crack a drug trafficking ring last year.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge