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India also oversees Google and Skype
by admin ·
India also oversees Google and Skype-BlackBerry is not the only.India aspires to capture wireless data flows. The country not only wants security guarantees from BlackBerry as well as Google and Skype.
The Indian government wants Internet giants Google (as the maker of the Android software for smartphones) and Skype call for access to encrypted information.
This is reflected in documents of the Indian government. Last week threatened the country for the Blackberry, a smartphone manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) to block.
The terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008, where 166 people lost their lives, were coordinated by satellite telephones and mobile phones. Immediately after the attacks followed, therefore, a thorough review of security in the area of telecommunications.
Intercept
In July, employees of the Indian Department of Telecom, together with representatives of three telecom providers to talk about the interception and monitoring of encrypted communications by the security of the country.
“There was agreement that more than one type of service for which solutions must be investigated”, according to the minutes of the meeting. “Some of the services include the BlackBerry, Google and Skype. It was decided the first issue to address with the BlackBerry and then the other services.”
The government, according to Rajesh Chharia, president of the Indian association of ISPs, “very clear” that after the BlackBerry also “Google, Skype and similar services are addressed. By law they must allow control,” said Chharia.
Google and Skype say they have received no notice of the Indian government.
The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday showed that there are currently only spoken with RIM. The domestic mobile phone operators have already been told that they now only in their network may take the air with equipment that is approved by the government.
Equipment from Chinese manufacturers Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp. is no longer allowed because it is suspected that insecure software.
India take risks
The Deputy Director of RIM, Robert Crowe, had a conversation last weekend with employees of the Ministry, in an attempt to avoid the ban. India threatened Thursday to e-mail and SMS features of the BlackBerry to block as the security of the country for August 31 to access the message.
Of the 41 million BlackBerry users 1 million live in India. It is one of the fastest growing markets for RIM. The question is whether India actually dares to block the functions. The country is also its reputation as a low cost technology development center in the game.
If the blockade is implemented, the BlackBerry owners with their phones only to call and internet. According to the Government next week a RIM solution.
Unrest in banks
India is not the only country where RIM has such problems. Earlier the same happened in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, RIM has signed a preliminary agreement with the authorities.
That has aroused concern among some large U.S. customers of RIM. They fear that concessions be made about the security of the encrypted data streams.
The big U.S. banks and multinationals have their employees use BlackBerrys, because they be sure that the messages can not be intercepted.
RIM last week would have held a conference call with clients such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, to reassure them.