Innovation in Mobile Email
1997-2000 Research In Motion Limited
Website: www.blackberry.net 9
Benefit Network Element
network. The handheld automatically registers with the network, which
knows with which base station the handheld is “in touch”.
•
Secure
–If a user’s handheld is stolen, it can be automatically disabled on
command from the network.
The support for Internet standards-based communication allows the user to leverage the company’s existing
Internet-connected infrastructure, saving both set-up time and the cost of equipment and support.
Peer-to-peer messaging is an additional capability, which allows two BlackBerry users to send messages
between their handhelds using PINs (numeric network IDs of handhelds). The wireless network relays
these messages directly between handhelds. With this feature, team members can communicate with each
other if either the company’s email server or connection to the Internet goes down. This direct messaging
also facilitates “chatting” between team members – faster delivery with no record of the messages at the
desktop. This method of communication is scrambled, not encrypted, so it is not as secure as the handheld-
to-desktop connection.
Security
‘…essentials such as security don't get enough attention. "And you can't just have anyone
with a PDA accessing our network. You need security software on both ends," Burcham
said.
Excerpt from “Got a handheld? IT doesn't want to know”
Computerworld, Nov. 16, 1998
Few handheld email solutions give much thought to security, but since BlackBerry was designed for
corporate users it has received great attention. BlackBerry’s secure solution is unique in that it both
provides a secure link between the desktop and the handheld and does not require configuration of, nor
does it compromise, the company’s firewall.
SMTP Security Concerns
As mentioned earlier, the BlackBerry desktop solution uses the desktop’s existing Internet email
connectivity to connect the desktop and the handheld. The benefit to the user, of BlackBerry’s use of an
existing connection, is the easy installation and ability to “load and go” without needing IT support.
Despite these benefits, the use of Internet email as a means of communication raises several security issues.
First, confidential internal email is being sent over the Internet – a publicly accessible network. Second,
allowing the handheld to communicate and control the desktop via email arriving from the Internet may not
require a new opening in the firewall, but it does create a new point of attack for the outside world. Both of
these issues are solved by the same solution – encryption.
Confidential
Because of BlackBerry’s use of encryption, messages in transit between the desktop and the handheld are
completely unreadable. In the encryption model used by BlackBerry, only the handheld and the desktop
know the encryption key. Before any information is sent between the desktop and the handheld, the content
is encrypted so it can only be unlocked by the desktop or handheld.
Authenticated
The user’s desktop is also safe from external attack because the same shared-key encryption is used to
authenticate inbound commands. The user of one RIM Wireless Handheld (or a hacker emulating
commands from a RIM Wireless Handheld) cannot cause email to be sent or forwarded from another
BlackBerry user’s desktop because the Desktop Redirector only responds to encrypted commands. The
encryption key is only known to the user’s desktop and handheld.
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