Blackberry maker Research in Motion said it has given Indian security agencies a key to enable access to its eponymous messenger and public email, but reiterated its inability to provide access to its corporate email services.RIM has been involved in a three-year battle with Indian security agencies, which are demanding access to BlackBerry communications, citing national security threats.
The Canadian company, which was facing a January 31 deadline for the two services, however, denied that it had entered into any agreement with the Indian government regarding its enterprise email services, and said any suggestions that "it was somehow enabling, or planning to enable, access to data transmitted through BlackBerry Enterprise Services was both false and technologically infeasible".
ET had reported last week that RIM had provided encryption keys for its Messenger and Internet services, while adding the Canadian company had sought time till January 2013 to address security concerns associated with its corporate email services.
The Indian government is yet to take a call on RIM's stance on its corporate email services, which intelligence agencies fear could be used by terrorists, since these communications cannot be detected.
RIM reiterated that neither it nor wireless carriers on whose networks RIM's services are run have access to encryption keys to its corporate email services. "No changes can be made to the security architecture for BlackBerry Enterprise Server (corporate email) customers since, contrary to any rumors, the security architecture is the same around the world and RIM truly has no ability to provide its customers' encryption keys," the company said in its customer update.
The stakes are big for the Canadian smartphone maker, especially since India is one of its fastest-growing markets. A super secure corporate email has been RIM's unique selling point, which has made the BlackBerry service an instant hit with high-flier executives.
India has over a million BlackBerry users, although less than 400,000 subscribe to its email and messenger service.
Documents available with ET say that RIM, during a December 29 meeting with the home and telecom ministry officials and representatives from the intelligence agencies, had told the government that the latter can avail its secure corporate email or enterprise services from servers of its clients.
"With regard to interception and monitoring of BlackBerry Enterprise Service, the RIM representative suggested that interception and monitoring in readable format is possible at the BES server/mail located at the enterprise, which is availing the enterprise email services through BlackBerry platform," says the minutes of the December 29 meeting.
"RIM representative stated they can provide RIM infrastructure in India for BES services in a time frame of 18-24 months provided it is confirmed that the services will not be banned in India during the intervening period," the minutes of that meet, which were reviewed by ET added.
RIM has been buffeted by demands for access to its encrypted data from several countries worried about security and social mores. This week, RIM said it would filter pornographic internet content for BlackBerry users in Indonesia, following government pressure to restrict access to porn sites or face its browsing service being shut down.
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