Brunnthal/Munich (Germany) – Piggybacking on a recent decision in France, a German industry organization wants German government officials to replace Blackberrys with a “more secure” German alternative.

In a letter directed to German Secreatary of State Wolfgang Schaeuble, the Software-Initiative Deutschland (SID) calls for a “deactivation” of the “security risk Blackberry”, similar to a move announced by the French government yesterday. According to the organization, Blackberry runs its E-mail service exclusively through data centers outside of Germany, there is an “acute threat” that sensitive data will get out of hand. SID recommended government officials to use German services instead of Blackberry, to keep E-mail traffic within the country.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy recently said that he was concerned that Blackberrys could provide American security services with access to secret information. The SID noted that especially the National Security Agency (NSA) is believed to use Blackberry services to retrieve sensitive information from other governments.

Germans

Jun 22, 2007 11:57     

puffing from the same stick as the French
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Americans

Jun 22, 2007 12:41     

The NSA doesn't need access to your Blackberry to keep an eye on you.
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Americans

Jun 22, 2007 12:45     

And what would US citizens feel if they were told their government officials were using communication devices whose data were transiting and being stored in Japan or Germany? They wouldn't be too thrilled about it, would they?
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Stupid Governments

Jun 22, 2007 12:46     

"More secure" my ass. Why can't they admit that they want just want to support a local company.
RIM report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Agreed with above poster

Jun 22, 2007 12:55     

This is the same kind of paranoia stating the US uses brain-frequency devices and long range microphones to spy on people. Even RIM, the makers of the Blackberry, say they cannot read stuff sent on the RIM service. For all RIM knows, the French and Germans could be sending messages on their Blackberrys about how to get rid of their Blackberrys. And a "more secure" German service? What would Germans do different from RIM? Use German servers? The root servers are still under lock-and-key in the US, so like its really going to make a difference.

Allen report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Double standards

Jun 22, 2007 13:20     

This is good..complaining about the capability of American intelligence/corporate services to use your data..hello? What about the EU and it's love affair with NAFTA? The EU/NAU relationship? The EU says jump and these countries say how hi, that's how it works over there..so maybe the concern should be a bit closer to home and not just associated with Blackberry. Try looking at the fraud within the EU!

William report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

FYI

Jun 22, 2007 14:21     

Why all this discussion about American companies when RIM is Canadian?? Every email that's sent through a blackberry is routed through Canada and not the US. Although regardless some countries will still use this as a motivation to promote locally developed technology.
asdf report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Not what others say...

Jun 22, 2007 14:50     

I read a week ago that Blackberrys are certified for official use as a secure platform in many countries, and Blackberry heavily denies that the US government has access to any of their data.
Brad report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

More servers

Jun 22, 2007 15:29     

Why doesn't RIM just wakeup and move/build some servers to the countries they are located in. It wouldn't make any technical difference since all of the data is online anyways, but it would shut these people up and protect their business.
gm0n3y report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

First the French, now the Germans. Share the CRACK

Jun 22, 2007 15:51     

I'm I gonna see a post about the Italians too? WTF. I wanna try some this crack. It sounds whacky! But seriously, I'm in line with "Double Standards". EU is so new it hasn’t yet figured out how to avoid corruption. The French and the German governments banning BBs are probably just the beginnings of EU corruption. And to think that I had respect and admiration for the EU. It’s like a government of governments, having the ultimate power, corrupted ultimately. Way to go, morons. Enjoy our European Dream. Funny, I lived in corrupted, tightly controlled Poland for 15 years, and moved to Canada and have lived here for another 22. Since I “escaped”, Poland became a normal democratic country; and now that they are part of EU, they are on their way to becoming a corrupted democratic country. Welcome aboard! LOL

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Silly, but the US does the same thing...

Jun 22, 2007 16:05     

The French and German governments are being silly if they actually thought security would be increased by using French or German servers. However, the real reason is they want to support a local alternative. The US does this sort of thing constantly; our government buys from US companies and farmers even when it would be hugely financially advantageous to buy from foreigners. There are lots of reasons stated why, but at the end of the day it's US taxpayer money, and much of it goes back to US taxpayers. I'm sure the French and Germans feel the same way.

Michal Todorovic report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Nice to see Protectionism hasn't died

Jun 22, 2007 16:13     

Security - as if Germans would do it better. They have clearly forgotten the acquisition of the Enignma machine by the British during WWII. This is a thinly disguised attempt to find an excuse to set up a parallel industry - except at twice the price!
Steven Low report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

anybody would do the same

Jun 22, 2007 16:26     

anybody would do the same
dred report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Das Boot

Jun 22, 2007 16:46     

Yeah, since we are once again whole after the unification of the West and East Germany, we can once again strike fear into our incompetent European neighbors. Our first objective is going to take over France, again. Yes, those cheese eating, wine sipping, surrounding monkeys must be conquered. If it were not for those pesky Americans during WWII, we could have stemmed the Soviet tide and we would still rule the western Europe on top of the Eiffle Tower today. We have learned out lesson: secure communication is key. We lost the WWII due to our Enigma encription machine was conpromised by those clever Brits. Damn them. So here is our plan: 1. Eradicate those pesky American blackberries; 2. "top secret"; 3. profit.

Jerry report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

what about Ms servers

Jun 22, 2007 19:45     

Okay lets not stop with france and Germany. Every country should stop using balckberry and deverlop there own secure networks. Hell don't stop there, servers are at risk, so every county develop ther own server language and operating system. And then let them keep up with MS and Blackberry. within 2 years they will be so backwards and screaming for an updates.
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is a money thing

Jun 23, 2007 00:40     

keep imports lower and use a local product. Keep services in ones own country. All economics most likely.
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Living in a Bubble

Jun 23, 2007 05:26     

Just goes to show that previous posters have no clue as to the world they are living in. All intelligence agencies around the world constantly monitor data and voice communications, constituting an immense invasion of privacy, in the name of a safer world. And tops among these is the NSA. Hell, this post will probably be flagged just because it has their initials in it. Call me paranoid, but if it comes down to the security of sensitive information, I would rather not take any chances, as the French have concluded. Even US diplomats and aides attending the G8 summit in Germany were told not to bring their wireless data devices for fear of eavesdropping.

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taxpayer money

Jun 23, 2007 07:00     

A blackberry-type device is wasted taxpayer money whatever the origin and price. A mobilephone and a pocket diary should be more than enough.
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security

Jun 23, 2007 12:17     

I think these are stupid attempts. They can't see the forest because of the trees :) There are musts for a secure communication: 1. Operating system must be completely secure. This can be achieved with open source software like Linux. A unified Linux would be more secure because all the eyes would be on it and its source code. 2. The mailing and instant messaging software must be secure (and of course open source). No trust is needed to anyone else other than the communicating persons by using combination of RSA and AES security algorithms. And these cannot be achieved even in future, because in this case terrorists will communicate as secure as the others :) CIA, NSA etc. will somehow detain this kind of movement.

programmer report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Intellisync

Jun 23, 2007 16:00     

For all those paranoid freaks. There is always a self-hosted solution. They can use Nokia's Intellisync Mobile Suite to sync Palm, Windows, Symbian, or RIM devices.
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Canadian

Jun 23, 2007 22:39     

Blackberry is a Canadian company. So i don't know what all the fuss is about. The friendly Canadians aren't interested in the 'sensitive data'. Too busy making money and spending it on social programs...
Jacob report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Yeah right! Like we need Crackberries!

Jun 24, 2007 08:12     

Like the NSA actually needs you to have a crackberry to watch you, I could think of a hundred EASIER ways to do the same thing. The Germans are going French, sigh...
Logan report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Canadians 2

Jun 24, 2007 20:41     

Hello, For those that don't know, RIM is located in Canada and most internet traffic from EU comes goes through the US before entering Canada. Canada, US, UK, Australia and NZ and in a ring (UKSA pact). Canada has an agency like the NSA called CSE. If information needs to be collected it will be. How ever, it is much easier to do so remotely like the German suspect and the French knows... Than to actually act up in that territory. French have a powerfull intel gathering agency called DGSE.

Some Guy report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Smoke Screen

Jun 24, 2007 22:34     

Can't the French and German governments host their own Blackberry [Enterprise] servers like many large companies and government agencies already do? Is there a legitimate security concern on this basis? Last time I checked, Canada is not part of the United States. I'm surprise that the Canadians didn't howl in protest at that insinuation. If the French and Germans want to support local products, would it kill them to say so? Or would that run them afoul of the WTO? Perhaps the US Government should review its use of SAP products as a possible security threat. Seems only fair...

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Flawed Infrastructure

Jul 08, 2007 04:15     

Even if you have your own BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) the BlackBerry devices must first connect with a server at RIM. There is no way to have the devices connect directly with your BES. I think this is the problem the French and Germans have.
Kris report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

French, German American secrets on a Blackberry?

Jul 10, 2007 00:06     

Why would anybody with "REAL" secrets send them via any email system. I would hope people handling state secrets would be smarter than that...... Sorry I lost it for a second. What good is a secret if you can't share it with someone.... especially over the interenet.
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