http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/11/15/1100384480556.html By Rob O'Neill November 16, 2004 Next Department of Defence communications spooks are restricting the use of wireless BlackBerry devices in government over concerns about the security of confidential and restricted information. The Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), the nation's high-tech electronic eavesdropper, says the popular devices must not be used to transmit confidential or secret information or connect to systems that process it. Agencies may use BlackBerry devices with systems that handle "unclassified, x-in-confidence (excluding cabinet-in-confidence) and restricted information". Telstra, one of several providers of BlackBerry services, insists the systems are secure. "They are used by a lot of customers that require high levels of security in the financial services industry, and even the CIA and the Pentagon," a Telstra spokesman says. Paul Osmond, Asia-Pacific regional director of BlackBerry developer Research In Motion, is "thrilled" the Government has decided the Department of Defence can use the device, because 18 months ago they were prohibited. "Their restrictions are fairly common when you look at a first go-around," Osmond says. "They are similar to those the US defence forces put out when they first used it." The DSD will review the guidelines in February when it is expected RIM and ISPs will seek to have their say. The hand-held BlackBerry device, which allows access to corporate email, including attachments, from almost any location, has become the new must-have corporate accessory in the US and is receiving strong support here. But the swarm of new mobile computing devices poses security challenges to government and private organisations. They are keen to have the functionality but worry about privacy and access. Other consumer devices have also generated alarm. A British security firm's survey revealed Apple's iPod, which has large portable storage capacity and can be plugged into most PCs, is considered a threat. Sometimes such concerns can seem overblown, as in 1999 when the Furby, a computerised toy, was banned from US National Security Agency premises because it could be used as a recorder. _________________________________________ Open Source Vulnerability Database (OSVDB) Everything is Vulnerable - http://www.osvdb.org/ - --- end forwarded text - -- - ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 1308 iQA/AwUBQZpgrsPxH8jf3ohaEQIbrACgoFRvXVUJA1KwCT3bo1W/Kh43CKsAoKgs MVhEl7/6XTLGsGe1fcywBsMm =O3HP -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----