Lebanon wants access to BlackBerry information

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Lebanon hopes BlackBerry maker Research In Motion will give the country a program that would allow it to access information used on the smartphone device, the telecommunications minister said.

RIM is facing pressure to open up its super-secure network to government scrutiny with a growing number of countries demanding access to encrypted communications sent through the device, citing national security concerns.

Lebanon’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said on Thursday it would assess security concerns relating to BlackBerry use.

Lebanon’s worries over BlackBerry coincide with widespread concern over the integrity of the telecom network following the arrest of three people on suspicion of spying for Israel.

Security sources say there are fears BlackBerrys could be used by Islamist groups or spies, beyond the reach of state monitoring.

“The ministry is studying this file and preparing it for talks with RIM … with the aim of getting the program that allows a state to access information transferred through this device,” minister Charbel Nahhas was quoted as saying in As-Safir newspaper.

Nahhas, who said Lebanon has about 60,000 BlackBerry users, said no decision had yet been taken to restrict the smartphone’s services in the country.

He said talks with RIM could take two months.

Two employees at state-owned mobile telecom firm Alfa were charged last month with spying for Israel. A third employee working for fixed-line operator Ogero was arrested last week.

The arrests have sparked debates on how deeply Israel had penetrated Lebanon’s telecom and security sectors. Israel and Hezbollah, which operates a private fixed-line communication network, went to war in 2006. Reuters

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3 responses to “Lebanon wants access to BlackBerry information”

  1. “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

    INVEST IN COUNTER INTELLIGENCE, NOT VIOLATIONS OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH, MOVEMENT AND EXPRESSION!

  2. I have no idea why anyone is still interested in using last centuries technology aka RIM/BB. I worked in the US cellular service industry and I am well aware of it’s functionality. It’s a proprietary system that

    A) IS a nightmare for any security aware IT department for corporate.

    B) Offers nothing more than any smartphone does, but offers much less to user from security prospective as everything you send by email for example instead of going to your company mailserver (or gmail) it goes to RIM than go to your company mail server. Everything you type goes to RIM Canada than back to your destination.

    C) Any smartphone wheither it’s iPhone, Droid, or Windows based has much better functionality.

    D) Microsoft Exchange simply offers more.

    1. Oh and I forgot to mention every government has the right to get to do a phone tap on you, or check your call logs ..etc. If your government has to curcimnavigate the canadian laws everytime they have to do this it’s not right. You have a problem with freedom of speech or unfair justice system fix IT not the cellular industry.

      I am all with ISF shutting down RIM

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