Who would of ever thought?  Did you know that wireless messages sent on a BlackBerry are so hard to intercept that the smartphones have become the device of choice for both criminals and law enforcement?  That’s what police say at least.

While some police offiercs admit that level of security makes the BlackBerry their preferred handheld device, they also say that also makes it hard for them to listen in on suspected criminals.  You just can’t always be a winner.

“It does limit our abilities to intercept, which in turn minimizes our abilities to prevent the crimes,” said Supt. Pat Fogerty of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia, a division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The problem is that BlackBerry smartphones, designed by Waterloo, Ont.-based Research In Motion initially for corporate clients, run BES, which makes a secure, private network and encrypts data.

Police say criminals are using additional layers of encryption with other types of software, bringing the encryption level up to military grade.  Who said criminals aren’t smart?  Looks like they are outsmarting the police force.

“They completely know that this technology is to their advantage,” Fogerty said, “and they will stay on that technology until such time that there is new technology that will be even more secure.”

The bottom line is that law enforcement must find some way to be able to encrypt BlackBerry devices better, more efficiently in order to catch these criminals.  But what about all us other innocent people who just want our data private?  Is it a stake if the police technically can look into it?  There’s no winning.

-by Mac Jadalhack

Source: CBC

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