BBC Shuts Down Internal BlackBerry Service

sebFlyte writes "Silicon.com is running a story on a little problem the BBC is having with their email. Apparently, the BBC has suspended service to all its executives BlackBerrys, because the server software was randomly sending chunks of messages to arbitrary users, thus showing execs each others emails. Not what you want from your remote-working solution, really."

Comments

Serves them right

[Blitzenn]

hmm. Didn't they (BBC) just layoff or outsource a huge part of their IT staff? Perhaps the lack of personel to properly set up the application (Blackberry Server) might be part of it? Can you really 'get by' without experienced help? Is this a result of the BBC slashing their IT staff to the bone? I would dare say that it would be hard to argue that it did not have some effect.

Re:Serves them right

[wo1verin3]

>> Blackberry was great 5 years ago, but things move fast and a horrible b&w device

Odd... my blackberry has a nice color screen and downloadable applications such as instant messaging and games. If you're gonna complain about a product, try not picking one from the past.

I'm waiting for your rants on Windows 95 not working with your DV cam in the next Windows Vista story.

A good little reminder

[saskboy]

It's a good reminder, and thus newsworthy. Never write something into an email that you wouldn't say to the face of whoever you're talking about.

Talking about confidential matters is what encryption and the telephone or face to face conversation is for. And if you have a "party-line" the telephone won't work either.

Ooops

[t_allardyce]

Not surprising really, if you think about it your data is usually only a few bits away from going somewhere you dont want, its just a question of how many bits and how likely they are to be corrupted.

Re:Memo

[Duhavid]

Yes, they did, they applied the service pack.

*Now* they have the bug.

Serves them right

[SysKoll]

So a patch started wrecking havoc in the message DB. Not a big deal in itself. However, I am a bit shocked that the BBC, or whoever manages their IT, did not first deploy the patch on a test server to give it a good whack. This is quite casual. You don't put a patch in production in a large organization without a test deployment first!

The BBC IT seem to have a very peculiar notion of security, anyway. Witness the quote from TFA: The issue of risk has figured large in [the BBC's] PDA strategy. In 2002, the BBC banned any of its staff from using devices not based on a Microsoft operating system.. So they enforce use of MS to reduce risk? Errr...

This quote points to another Silicon.com article from 2002 saying, "We believe PocketPC includes all functionality and is one the most secure platforms available."

Which, to say the least, is a strong statement in light of the multiple vulnerabilities affecting MS products. The functionality issue is certainly defensible, but as for security, I have a doubt.

Re:slightly off topic, but scary

[Dwonis]

For logging all outgoing email, as per some companies' data retention policies?