Fear of sensitive data leak to foreign states Govt ‘bans’ Blackberry phones official use

Fear of sensitive data leak to foreign states Govt ‘bans’ Blackberry phones official use 

STAFF REPORT ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to ban official use of BlackBerry cellphones to plug leakage of sensitive information to hostile parties, well-informed sources in the Interior Ministry said.

According to them, the decision has been taken at a high level meeting following the reports that the Indian government is attempting to acquire the capability of intercepting transmissions in the hope of extracting sensitive information from Pakistan.

“Sensing the critical situation, the Pakistan Armed Forces - Army, Air Force and Navy have already banned the use of Blackberry for official business,” a government official informed this scribe on condition of anonymity.

“Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Ministry of Information Technology and Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs are backing this proposal,” the sources added.

It is to be mentioned here that some federal and provincial departments’ functionaries are using BlackBerry cell phones for communication of official voice and data.

IT experts say that lead of sensitive information through Blackberry is quite possible as the keys of this cell phone are controlled by a foreign-based company. “In this way, a subscriber using BlackBerry is outside the communication security regime of the government of Pakistan,” they said and added that the moment a BlackBerry is switched on, it is automatically connected to the Internet, which is easily detectable.

“Voice as well as data being transmitted by the set is thus available to interested/hostile parties based abroad and can, therefore, be exploited for ulterior motives,” the official explained and said that a BlackBerry phone has proved to be a security risk.

The sources disclosed that the Cabinet Division has recommended that any communication which has control outside Pakistan should not be used in view of high risk of cyber espionage.

Chinese and French governments have already imposed ban on Research in Motion (RiP). There are also reports that Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have undertaken initiatives to place restraints on BlackBerry services. The US and European countries have vital interests and troops in Afghanistan.

“The steps taken China and France about Blackberry phone use are enough to justify the official ban of this phone in Pakistan,” the official reasoned out. Therefore, it can be safely assumed that there can be attempts to monitor communication traffic originating from Afghanistan and surrounding countries. The possibility of some foreign states supporting their security partners to facilitate access to the communications traffic originating on BlackBerry network in the region cannot be ruled out.