The security impasse between the Canadian maker of BlackBerry handsets, Research in Motion, and India’s security agencies remains unresolved, as the agencies still have no way of decrypting the 256-bit encryption technology embedded in BlackBerry Messenger and email (sent using Blackberry Enterprise Solutions).
RIM has created an automated system that offers real-time data monitoring, but it is still under examination by the security agencies.
India’s Home Ministry is examining a report submitted by a high-level panel of experts on a focused, practical approach to the issue of decrypting some of the encrypted communication in a readable format, a task with which India’s security agencies have encountered problems.
India’s junior minister for telecommunications and information technology, Milind Deora, had told the Parliament that the security agencies have suggested that they are not able to decrypt some encrypted communications to a readable format. The Indian agencies say RIM has addressed the U.S. government’s security concerns in the past and can do so for India, too.
According to the terms of telecom/Internet licenses, all telecom operators and Internet service providers in India are required to provide the lawful interception and monitoring facilities to security agencies.
The Press Trust of India recently reported that India’s federal investigation agency, in partnership with Interpol, will be setting up an international high-tech center for “unraveling telecommunication crimes keeping in mind growing popularity of mobile phones and devices as carriers of sensitive information, vulnerable to hackers.”
