BlackBerry Says Its New Android Smartphone DTEK 50 Is the 'World's Most Secure' (theverge.com) 94
BlackBerry, which once assumed the tentpole position in the mobile market, announced on Tuesday the BlackBerry DTEK 50, its second smartphone powered by Google's Android operating system. The Canadean company is marketing the DTEK as the 'world's most secure' phone. It is priced at $300, and will go on sale in select markets on August 8. The Verge adds:The DTEK50 has a 5.2-inch, 1080p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, 3GB RAM, 13-megapixel camera, and 2,610mAh battery. The 8-megapixel front camera also includes a flash for taking selfies. It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with BlackBerry's software features, such as the Hub. The software is similar to the software on the Priv released last year. The security features are highlighted right in the device's name, as it has BlackBerry's DTEK software that protects users from malware and other security problems often seen on Android smartphones. The DTEK app lets users quickly get an overview of their device's security and take action on any potential issues. BlackBerry says that it has modified Android with its own technology originally developed for the BB10 platform to make it more secure. The company is also committing to rapid updates to deliver security patches shortly after they are released.
Try again. (Score:5, Insightful)
The "world's most secure" comes with free backdoor access for anyone who comes knocking.
No thanks BB, you're no longer relevant.
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Re:Try again. (Score:5, Insightful)
how do you KNOW apple is more secure?
have you seen all the files in the source build chain, along with auditing the silicon used in all data paths?
of course not.
we have apples' WORD that its secure.
maybe its true, maybe its all a PR stunt and they cooperate with LEOs just as much as BB does.
you and I and 99.9% of the world have zero insight into this. lets be honest, shall we?
Re:Try again. (Score:4, Insightful)
However with Apple Popularity, You would expect to hear about hacking exploits all the time and some open to the world problems that will demand that you upgrade. and Hear about people with old phones who can't upgrade getting hacked and all this other nasty stuff.
Honestly I hear more about android hacks (inside malware available on the Google Store) then from Apple.
I am not saying Apple is golden. However current history shows it is rather good.
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"I am not saying Apple is golden. However current history shows it is rather good."
You must have missed the fappening. Seriously Apple's cloud backup weakness is responsible for 50% of the content on TMZ.
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Re:Try again. (Score:5, Informative)
There have been many people, including FBI Director James Comey whom have sworn before Congress that they can not crack iOS 9 on modern iPhones. Not in a round-a-bout testimony either. Doing so while having knowledge of the contrary is flat-out illegal, and Comey doesn't have the political clout of Hillary to lie to Congress and keep his freedom. He would not lie so willfully, he would bob and weave to avoid answering the questions related to it.
But even IF he lied, and even IF the govt was able to keep it a secret, and even IF Apple believes one thing and does another. So?
It's obviously too important a secret to blow open for the likes of whatever information you have to hide, and so in a court of law, you would simply use the fruit-of-a-poisoned-tree defense to get whatever was being held against you thrown out, effectively disarming the threat against you. iPhones are pretty secure.
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I doubt FBI Director James Comey can crack any phone. He's an old cop not a hacker.
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too much BS. I hope you don't believe that. we don't (and I'm sure I speak for a lot more than myself).
what do you mean "IF he lied". he's a published known on-the-fucking-books liar. time and time again. he has more holes in his stories than swiss cheese. (this guy is quoting comey to me. wow. and he thinks that's a defense of some sort. double wow.)
I see no reason to trust apple on their word. and what they SAY - who cares. at the end of the say, they con us, many of us believe them, they have
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For starters, Apple's CEO doesn't go around criticising competitors for not having a "responsible", FBI approved backdoor. Chen is really Eloping that company.
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you and I and 99.9% of the world have zero insight into this.
So let's review what we know of the situation and make our decisions based on the facts available?
BB: It's our responsibility as a responsible company to let TLA's and LEO's in on our customer's data if they have a good reason.
Apple: Was publicly sued to compel cooperation in unlocking a phone.
As far as I can see we can't definitively say who is doing what, but which company would you say has a better chance of giving a shit about keeping customer data secure?
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Re: Try again. (Score:2)
Re:Try again. (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yeah, they gave up the rights to say that three years ago. Which means now they have essentially nothing differentiating them from their competitors.
I really liked the hub separation, but now you can't say "I'm buying a BB10-style device for security reasons".
They had a series of boneheaded moves that was bringing their demise, but this was truly the last nail in the coffin.
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Exactly. Not to mention that it appears (at least to me) that Blackberry is desperately casting about for a niche to make itself relevant.
There's no longer a real difference difference between what Blackberry makes and what is made by LG, Samsung, Huawei, Motorola, Xiaomi, ASUS, Sony... so what's the point of getting a Blackberry again?
They had a chance long ago, but chose to sit on their fat laurels instead of innovating. This is what they get as a result.
(I mean, damn, if they were to go Android early-on
BB security and BES (Score:1)
The "world's most secure" comes with free backdoor access for anyone who comes knocking.
Only if you get your mail through a telco.
If you have your own BES server (i.e., corporate or government orgs), then BB/RIM can't touch it... and that's who they're marketing this to.
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Also make sure that no bloatware exists on the phone.
Third party bloat apps are the primary cause for problems.
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No... just law enforcement.
I had once thought that this was because of a provincial court ruling that ordered them to do so, but I've been told since that this was not the case, so I can't say I'm entirely sure what would have happened if they had made any real attempt to argue against it. Perhaps they didn't feel it was worth the fight, particularly if they thought they would only lose anyways.
I fully agree with your main point, however.
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I don't think there's any such thing as 'secure' anymore, not for anything.
Anymore?
If you think of security as a binary proposition (either you have it or you don't), then nothing has ever been secure. All security falls somewhere on a continuum, and absolute security is an ideal that cannot ever be actually achieved.
"most secure" (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:"most secure" (Score:5, Insightful)
Most secure if you also ignore Chen's frequent attacks on Apple for not just handing data over to the US government... which, when you think about it, rather suggests that Blackberry's products are not really all that secure at all.
I'd get worked up, but the reality is that no one really gives a flying fuck anymore about Blackberry.
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That was my thought too. While the current CEO is leading Blackberry, there is no way i am touching their products. They obviously cannot be trusted with anything security related.
What's the point? (Score:1)
What's the point of a "secure" Android phone?
So that only Google can know your position, your credit card number, all your contacts, your search history and all your phone calls?
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Its secure enogh that you wont notice (Score:4, Informative)
the RCMP snooping through your phone https://news.vice.com/article/... [vice.com]
Doesn't the CEO's recent comments counter this? (Score:4, Informative)
BlackBerry CEO Chen recently said he was "disturbed" by Apple's stance on security. [slashdot.org] Namely Apple refused to work with the FBI to create special OS to allow an iPhone to be brute force cracked. "If the world is in danger, we should be able to help out," he said. How does this resolve with this BlackBerry being "the most secure". I read that statement as BlackBerry would have cooperated with the FBI to hack a customer's phone. What is to stop BlackBerry from planting backdoors in their OS to allow this?
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What is to stop BlackBerry from planting backdoors in their OS to allow this?
I think it's a given that they HAVE done this. To paraphrase Michael Dell, "Close the doors, sell off the assets, and give the money back to the stock holders." They're done.
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It is NOT a "given" that they've done this.
It's a FACT.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/c... [zdnet.com]
They've basically turned over their master encryption key to law enforcement.
And they not only did not tell investors or device owners about it, they used legal shenanigans to try and stop the fact that they'd done this from leaking!
Right now I'd put more trust in dropping the soap in the presence of an unrepentant serial prison rapist than in Blackberry security right now.
Fuck, I'd trust HILLARY CLINTON before I'd trust
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Its "most secure" as in "this phone enables governments to keep their countries most secure", not as in "this phone keeps the user's data most secure from the government". Or at least what blackberry thinks governments need to keep their countries secure.
All depends on the definition.
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Well, not to say anything about the nature of Blackberry's security, but certainly a CEO who's largest clients are government and law enforcement are going to cow tow to his client's position.
Oh hi , you're a fascist dictators who make the world less secure, now piss off.
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Well, in theory, one could be secure from malicious hackers/non-governmental eavesdroppers, while still totally exposed to government snooping. I mean, Obama amazing security, and yet the government can track his every move.
Oh! that's rich! (Score:1)
Blackberry.. secure
Gremlins.. little green men...HAHAHAHA!
Ohhh murrrder!
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Is Where It Is Destined To ROT!
Wait - how did you learn what their new encryption scheme was going to be?
Now they're going to have to start all over... geez.
How secure is it? (Score:2)
So secure, they've eliminated the users. And to further enhance security they'll soon bury them in a landfill. Why do we even bother running the story? They make Linux on the desktop seem mainstream...
Dear Blackberry... (Score:4, Informative)
Does it report when I am on a government spying cellphone tower?
Does it report when the connection is untrusted or detects a MITM?
Does it do encryption without using ANY of your services?
Does it not allow any software to be installed without rebooting to an admin mode and then only allows offline apk installs?
Does it wipe all user storage before reboot?
No?
Then it is not secure.... in fact it's insecure as hell.
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It can be the most secure smartphone in the world still, if all others are worse.
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Silent Circle's Blackphone 2
Their phone kicks the shit out of blackberry.
The "Canadean" company (Score:4, Informative)
Aren't these the guys who... (Score:2)
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Apple and Android devices that viciously track and spy on them
Say all you want about Android and Tracking/Spying; but leave Apple out of this.
Tentpole? (Score:3)
BlackBerry, which once assumed the tentpole position in the mobile market
"Frozen" is a tent pole for Disney. The iPhone is a tent pole for Apple. The Galaxy line of phones is a tent pole for Samsung. There is no such thing as a "tentpole position" in a market. Perhaps the editor meant "pole position"?
BlackBerry Android with enhanced security features (Score:2)
Are there any technical details as to how BlackBerry achieves enhanced security on Android?
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BackdoorBerry wants your money! (Score:1)
DTEK - How clever (Score:2)
It's a sad, sad, sad, day. (Score:1)
Ok even if it were true that the Blackberry was secure, which it isn't. It's still a sad day that we need a special phone to protect ourselves from our own government.
They say "secure"... (Score:2)
The nerve... (Score:1)
It's really sad that the whole fracas about Blackberry handing a single encryption key that opened up the doors to all non-corporate Blackberry users for the Canadian Mounted Police got burried and didn't get enough attention from costumers, but at least for me, the company is fucking dead regarding privacy and security.
It really shows how much the news was ignored when the same company dares to say they came up with the world's most secure phone after all that. John Chen (Blackberry's CEO) made his positio
Canadean? (Score:3)
Where is "Canadean" stuff made?
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Where is "Canadean" stuff made?
In Canadea, of course!
Rebranded Alcatel Idol 4 (Score:5, Informative)
This phone is basically rebranded Alcatel Idol 4 (which Alcatel itself rebrands from chinese TCL corporation) with custom Blackberry ROM and software.
I would rather buy Blackphone for security.
Those guys? (Score:1)
BWAHAHAHAHA (Score:2)
BlackBerry + Secure = Completely Amusing
( We swear we won't give up the encryption keys this time ! Really ! Pinky Swear ! )
I found that disturbing as a citizen (Score:1)
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Does it talk to Blackberry servers? (Score:2)
If so, then it isn't even in the running for "most secure".
Bend over (Score:1)
Creative misspelling (Score:1)
> Canadean
Geez Louise, manishs! It's *CANADIAN*! Now write it out 500 times. :P
First of all 2 things (Score:2)
1) BB has always maintained that they will cooperate with the legal privacy practices within the countries they operate in. Within Canada that means that if the RCMP want to take a peak they will need to get a judge to give them a warrant to do so. I believe there is an exception where they would have to prove there is "imminent" risk to life, which due to a somewhat recent ruling is likely difficult to do. If you think it is otherwise for any other phone, you are fooling yourself.
2) Technically they said