BlackBerry Blog Hacked in Wake of London Riots

 by Christina Warren

Research In Motion found its official BlackBerry blog hacked Tuesday morning, following statements the company made regarding theLondon riots.

Rioters used RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger to communicate far more than using other social networks like Twitter or Facebook.

In response to the riots, RIM tweeted, “We feel for those impacted by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can.”

As we noted yesterday, that seems to indicate that BBM isn’t as private as some rioters may have hoped.

In response, a group calling itself TeaMp0isoN hacked the publicly facing Inside BlackBerry blog. The site is now down.

Before the site went down, we were able to capture the following message from the hackers:

This hack is a response to this statement by RIM:

“We feel for those impacted by this weekend’s riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can. As in all markets around the world Where BlackBerry is available, we cooperate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials. Similar to other technology providers in the UK we comply with The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and UK police forces.”

Dear Rim;
You Will _NOT_ assist the UK Police because if u do innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all, the Police are looking to arrest as many people as possible to save themselves from embarrassment…. if you do assist the police by giving them chat logs, gps locations, customer information & access to peoples BlackBerryMessengers you will regret it, we have access to your database which includes your employees information; e.g – Addresses, Names, Phone Numbers etc. – now if u assist the police, we _WILL_ make this information public and pass it onto rioters…. do you really want a bunch of angry youths on your employees doorsteps? Think about it…. and don’t think that the police will protect your employees, the police can’t protect themselves let alone protect others….. if you make the wrong choice your database will be made public, save yourself the embarrassment and make the right choice. don’t be a puppet..

p.s – we do not condone in innocent people being attacked in these riots nor do we condone in small businesses being looted, but we are all for the rioters that are engaging in attacks on the police and government…. and before anyone says “the blackberry employees are innocent” no they are not! They are the ones that would be assisting the police

- TriCk – TeaMp0isoN -
Greets To: iN^SaNe – Hex00010 – MLT – BlackHacker

- Knowledge is Power . . . . .

#FuckTheFeds

Twitter: @TeaMp0isoN_

BlackBerry Messenger Used More than Facebook or Twitter

by Chris Taylor

As the riots in London look set to continue for a third night — and to spread to other parts of the UK — details are starting to emerge on how the rioters have been organizing themselves. The medium of choice? BlackBerry Messenger.

The riots began as a protest at the police shooting of Mark Duggan, a resident of the Tottenham area of north London, last Thursday. AFacebook group quickly sprung up to commemorate Duggan; police and media attention was drawn to a particular post on the Facebook page which appeared to fan the flames, as well as the occasional tweet from rioters describing their deeds and where they were headed next. Some posted pictures of looting and burning police cars.

But it soon became clear that BBM was by far the most popular means for rioters to communicate. BlackBerry devices, cheaper and more widespread than iOS or Android smartphones, are owned by more than a third of British teens, according to a recent study. BBM — an instant message service for BlackBerry owners — is free, instantly available, one-to-many, and the authorities can’t immediately trace it. BBM users must exchange PIN numbers, which keeps their conversations private.

The Guardian got its hands on BBM messages directing rioters — blasts that are shocking in their specificity. “Everyone in edmonton enfield wood green everywhere in north link up at enfield town station at 4 o clock sharp!” reads one. Another directs looters to Oxford Circus in the heart of London: “SHOPS are gonna get smashed up so come get some (free stuff!!!)”

Research in Motion, makers of BlackBerry, responded with this tweet: “We feel for those impacted by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can.” That seemed to suggest that BBM would not be as private as some of the rioters might have hoped, but RIM refused to say exactly how much information it would be sharing with police.

The BBM connection didn’t stop one of London’s chief law enforcement officials from tarring all of social media with the same brush. “Really inflamatory” messages on Twitter were mainly to blame for the disorder, said Steve Kavanagh, the deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police at a press conference Monday. “Social media and other methods have been used to organise these levels of greed and criminality,”

BlackBerry Colt: Say Hello to RIM’s First QNX Phone [REPORT]

by Ben Parr

The first details have leaked surrounding the BlackBerry Colt, RIM’s first QNX-based smartphone.

The device is the company’s attempt to catch up to its technologically superior iOS and Android counterparts.RIM acquired QNX last year and anointed it the future OS of its mobile devices. RIM’s first QNX device, the BlackBerry Playbook tablet, made its debut earlier this year.

According to Boy Genius Report, the first mobile device to carry the QNX operating system, codenamed the BlackBerry Colt, is slated for release in the first quarter of 2012. It’s currently undergoing internal testing with RIM’s Software Verification team.

BGR‘s sources dive further into the product, though. Apparently, the BlackBerry Colt is likely to ship with a single-core processor. More and more smartphones, especially ones running Android, already contain dual or even quad-core processors. The next iPhone, which will likely make its debut next month, will almost certainly contain a dual-core processor. While the Colt could still get a dual-core processor before it launches next year, it seems likely that the Colt will already be underpowered compared to its competition.

Like the PlayBook, the Colt is not expected to include BlackBerry Enterprise Server at launch. BES, which powers the email, contact and calendar synchronization on BlackBerry OS, is proving more difficult to rewrite for QNX than expected. That is why the PlayBook lacked native email at launch. If this is true, it will negate one of the major reasons why people still purchase the BlackBerry.

RIM needs to find its answer to the iPhone and Android soon. It is cutting 2,000 jobs after weak financial results. Its software and hardware have simply lagged behind the competition. The BlackBerry Colt may be RIM’s last shot at saving itself from oblivion.

Android Now Owns 39% of Smartphone Market [STATS]

 by Christina Warren

Android retains its crown as the top smartphone operating system in the U.S., while RIM continues to falter, according to the most recent data from Nielsen.

In assessing the latest data from June, Nielsen found that 39% of the smartphone market belongs to Google’s Android operating system. Apple has 28% of the market, while RIM and the BlackBerry OS are down to 20%.

When we compare those figures with the data Nielsen released for February through May, Android is up 3%, Apple is up 2% and RIM is down 3%.

When it comes to top phone manufacturers, however, Apple is the clear winner. Like RIM, Apple has the advantage of controlling the software and the hardware for its smartphone platform. Unlike RIM, Apple sells only three smartphones in the U.S.: the iPhone 4 (AT&T), the iPhone 4 (Verizon) and the iPhone 3GS (AT&T).

HTC is the biggest Android manufacturer, according to Nielsen, with 14% of the Android market. Motorola and Samsung have 11% and 8% respectively.

Blackberry faces Indian showdown after missing deadline

BBC


Indian Blackberry users could face a ban after the gadget's maker failed to meet a government deadline to grant access to all its services.

Officials in Delhi say they need to read encrypted Blackberry messages to help guard against terrorist attacks.

They have been locked in negotiations with Research In Motion, which makes the popular device, since last summer.

However as a January 31 deadline passed, RIM said it would not lift encryption for its business clients.

Indian officials are concerned that encrypted e-mail could be used to coordinate terrorist attacks similar to those that hit Mumbai in November 2008, killing 164 people.

An investigation into the tragedy found that those involved were largely guided by mobile phone and internet messages sent from a base in Pakistan.

In the wake of the attacks, 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, however, because of the popularity of its encrypted services.

The BlackBerry's secure e-mail has made it the mobile phone of choice for many companies around the world, allowing users to easily encode messages to screen them from prying eyes.

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.

"There is no possibility of us providing any kind of a solution," said company vice president Robert Crow last week. "There is no solution, there are no keys to be handed."

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.

"We will insist they give us a solution," India's home minister, P Chidambaram, told reporters on Monday in response to Crow's comments.

Ban 'unlikely'
It is the latest move in a game of brinkmanship between the two sides.

Indian authorities were on the verge of banning the device last August, but ultimately granted Research In Motion an extension. The war of words with the technology company continued, however.

Local media reports suggest that a total ban is unlikely, although such a move would not be entirely unprecedented.

The gadget was banned temporarily for similar reasons by the Saudi Arabian authorities last August, with service interrupted for several hours before a deal was reached.

Officials in the nearby United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, retracted their threat to ban Blackberry handsets in October after 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.

France banned officials from using Blackberrys in 2007 amid concerns that they could be spied upon too easily, while earlier this week Pakistan enacted a similar ban - which has since been reversed.