Blackberry users in India may be paying the price for security. Officials in Delhi say encrypted Blackberry messages have become a cause of concern for national security as encrypted e-mails could be used to coordinate terrorist attacks. To facilitate a solution they had earlier asked the company to provide access to read the encrypted Blackberry messages. But since the company failed to meet the deadline, that was on January 31, 2010, the future for Blackberry in India seems dubious.
The situation arose particularly after the Mumbai attack in November 2008, killing nearly 164 people.An investigation into the tragedy found that those involved were largely guided by mobile phone and encrypted internet messages sent from a base in Pakistan.
Following the unfortunate event, the Indian authorities enacted a series of reforms of communications laws to give it access to encrypted messages and to prevent the use of untraceable mobile handsets.The Blackberry has proved a particular thorn in its side. As a result, Delhi has been threatening to ban the device entirely if Research in Motion did not comply with its wishes.
Although the Canadian company made some concessions in recent weeks, it said that complying with the January 31 deadline had proven technically impossible because does not have the ability to unencrypt messages.It is unclear what steps the government may take as a result of the missed deadline, but senior officials have warned that they would not take no for an answer.
The gadget was banned temporarily for similar reasons by the Saudi Arabian authorities last August, with service interrupted for several hours before reaching a “satisfactory” agreement with the company. At the same time, however, diplomats and politicians in other countries are banned from using the devices because of concerns about lax security.
Will Research In Motion come up with a solution to save its stake in India, or the Indian blackberry lovers need to look up to other Smartphones. We will have to wait and see.
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