May 28, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 22, 1429

NEW DELHI, May 27: The Canadian maker of BlackBerry, embroiled in a security row with the Indian government, has told customers it is committed to ensuring their emails are safe from snoopers.

The statement on Tuesday followed Indian media reports that Research in Motion (RIM), the makers of the highly popular device, might allow the Indian government access to messages sent using a BlackBerry.

The Indian government has raised fears the cellular device could be used by terrorists to communicate.

The RIM said it wished to assure customers it was committed to “serving security-conscious businesses in the Indian market with highly secure” products and rejected what it said was incorrect speculation.

The Indian media reports said the government wanted “the master key” to allow them access to emails sent between BlackBerry devices. But RIM said no “master key” existed.

“It is not a question of withholding something,” BlackBerry spokesman Satchit Gayakwad said.

The RIM does not possess a “master key” to gain “unauthorised access” to data and there is no “back door” in the system that would allow RIM or any third party to gain access, the company statement said.

BlackBerry’s security system is based on “a key system whereby the customer creates their own key and only the customer ever possesses a copy of their encryption key”, RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, said.

At the same time, “governments have a wide range of resources and methodologies to satisfy national security and law enforcement needs without compromising commercial security requirements”, RIM said.

“There are some ways government can take care of security concerns,” the RIM spokesman said, adding other “security-conscious countries (where BlackBerry services operate) are working around this problem”. He declined to elaborate. The Canadian firm operates in over 135 countries.

The Indian government and RIM have held talks about New Delhi’s security concerns.

—AFP