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Solving Obama's BlackBerry Dilemma
CurtMonash writes "Much is being made of the deliberations as to whether President Obama will be able to keep using his beloved "BarackBerry." As the NYTimes details, there are two major sets of objections: infosecurity and legal/records retention. Deven Coldeway of CrunchGear does a good job of showing that the technological infosecurity problems can be solved. And as I've noted elsewhere, the 'Omigod, he left his Blackberry behind at dinner' issue is absurd. Presidents are surrounded by attendants, Secret Service and otherwise. Somebody just has to be given the job of keeping track of the president's personal communication device. As for the legal question of whether the president can afford to put things in writing that will likely be exposed by courts and archivists later — the answer to that surely depends on the subject matter or recipient. Email to his Chicago friends — why not? Anything he'd write to them would be necessarily non-secret anyway. Email to the Secretary of Defense? That might be a different matter."
Talk about a waste of bandwidth.
Its interesting to think of how much money Research in Motion would spend developing a unit specifically for him, that met all of the security criteria, just so he would be seen with it. I imagine some type of self destruct feature would be necessary, in addition to insane encryption.
I just did a pretty good submission about the very same issue. Now, alas, redundant. But I did pick up one useful new fact: General Dynamics makes something called a Sectera Edge which would probably be a good, secure, replacement for the Obamaberry.
The solution is simple -- the government already has PDAs that tie into their networks and are secure. He will use that for classified information, as required by law anyway. His blackberry will be used for non-classified information. Separation between the two is also required by law. Now, why are we fangirling over Obama like this? This wasn't news when Bush was in office and he used a cell phone and a PDA too. Now I wait for my -1, didn't fangirl score.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
This is only going to become more pertinent of an issue. We might as well figure it out now. If we don't, we'll just have to figure out a system next time, as in four or eight years this will only be more common.
It's not like a system couldn't be devised that would work, they just need to look at the specific roadblocks and figure something out.
As McCain said, we should get together the smartest people in the country to solve this problem. He's a smart guy coming up with cutting edge ideas like that. ;)
-Taylor
Worldwide Military budgets: $2100 billion. Worldwide Space Exploration budgets: $38 billion. Really, world? Really?
Can we stop all this portmanteau crap? Please? It's like the imaginary label "President-Elect"...
PS:
And as I've noted elsewhere, the 'Omigod, he left his Blackberry behind at dinner' issue is absurd
No, it's not. The people who surround the president have (practically since the inception of nuclear weapons) had problems keeping the codes or the authorization mechanisms physically secure, despite the fact that the fucking thing is in fact attached to the person carrying it:
On occasion the President has left his aide carrying the football behind. This happened to Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush[2] and, most recently, Bill Clinton on April 24, 1999.[3] In none of these cases was the integrity of the football breached. clicky.
It's one thing for a "football" which is specifically designed to not rely just on restricted access, but if someone got ahold of Obama's blackberry, getting into it isn't nearly as challenging.
Also, the article submitter doesn't have the remotest understanding of how things work at a presidential level in regards to information security; its not as simple as "zOMG, do not email the sec of defense on blackberry!" Bush went so far as to keep his press secretary at arm's length so that he was truly ignorant on stuff that Bush didn't want the press to know about.
Much of information security at that level isn't about actual classified information, but dissemination of unclassified information to the media that is either beneficial or hurtful to other political entities and individuals, domestic or foreign.
Please help metamoderate.
Do you really think that no one on Obama's team can figure out whether or not there are issues with him having a PDA. This article seems to indicate that they know something the rest of Obama's team and he himself don't know.... But they obviously have no idea what the issues with the presidential records act are, let alone the ridiculousity of chiseling a security argumenet down to a self destruct feature. I hope everyone on /. already knows there is more to security than whether or not the device can be erased after someone realizes it is lost (potentially well after it has fall into nefarious hands).
I think the reason he doesn't just say "I want this" and have it be done is not because he can't, but because he realizes that he has advisors to figure out if it is a good idea. It could be that all of the issues could be handled, but that doing so would cost a lot of tax payer dollars.
We keep forgetting what the original purpose of these little electronic gizmos was.
Or... they call them Personal Digital Assistants for a reason.
So call me crazy, but I'm guessing the POTUS just might have the resources to get an actual Personal Assistant to handle all of the functions of a PDA.
Plus I hear the voice-based interface on PAs is a snap to learn.
Corollary to Hanlon's razor: Any significantly advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice.
I have to take issue with the idea that having someone keep track of the device would prevent it from being left behind. After all, if the Nuclear Football or launch codes have been be left behind or lost at least four times, then the Presidential Blackberry could just as well slip out of a pocket in a crowd.
Just a good little reminder that no-one is above the law. The President, in fact, has laws that apply only to him (and his senior staff) that he has to follow regarding this sort of thing.
I am sure the previous presidents of the united states used cellphones and laptops. This is no different by the combination of the two. What exactly are those security experts hired for anyway? They are suppose to enable usage of tools while preserving security, not by telling their boss what he can't do. They are getting paid big bucks for resolving the headaches, not creating them. Any incompetent fool can suggest not to use a particular solution, the competent IT workers get things done without disrupting the service.
Where is the "Ignorant" mod tag?
He's the head of the government.
You must be British.
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
This is a perfect example of how security nuts make life difficult even for people in positions of tremendous power.
ESPECIALLY for people in positions of tremendous power.
Think of all the trouble Hitler went through because of Enigma hackers!
We'd be cowering in fear of some pretty awesome looking aircraft right now if you could ignore security nuts with impunity.
You can't take the sky from me...
It's a cell phone.
It's his property.
He can do whatever the fuck he wants with it.
I fucking hate the media for creating this fucking non-issue.
Why was this not an issue when he was a senator?
As long as he keeps his black berry for personal use only, it's fine. If it's for official use as well, then they should implement some basic security both inside and outside the device, just as you would with a the President's computer, his plane, his car, his (land line) phone, and his dog.
Obama the person is not always Obama the President. Every single thing he says, types, does, etc. does not need to be logged, filed, and splooged over. Maybe the guy wants to take a minute to troll slashdot while sitting on the can. Maybe he wants to post a message to his daughter's village in Animal Crossing.
Where's that AC with the post about eating Obama's turd?
"the 'Omigod, he left his Blackberry behind at dinner' issue is absurd." The president has left behind far more important items. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/328442.stm
What more important things to do than write emails and call people?
Seriously, what do you think the president's job is? How do you think he keeps in contact with his cabinet and thus stay on top of domestic and world events? How do you think he visits other countries' leaders? By just showing up at their door steps?
Think of the president as a project manager, except on the grand scale, then, you will understand.
Where is the "Ignorant" mod tag?
Let's be serious. The secret service could care less about the info security. They're a lot more concerned about the fact that they have all these guys who are sitting ducks because 'Renegade' insists on carrying a homing device with him wherever he goes. I think the solution is to tell the world he's carrying a blackberry but then carry some custom device which is built on radio.
The BlackBerry is a cell phone... isn't there a law that cell phones must be able to be located, within a few hundred feet, for EMS purposes?
I am sure the secret service would love to have the president tracked by his phone carrier.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
If only the 'No Blackberry Left Behind Act' were more adequately funded.
I think techies ought to appreciate this, it's entirely Murphy's Law. If he can lose it, he will. A great example is that once Bill Clinton walked out on a check. (Might have been after he was out of office) He just assumed someone else had it. A reporter picked it up. That reporter managed to make a name for himself by covering a $20 tab. Now, imagine if a reporter got ahold of Obama's blackberry. I'm sure the reporter would return it, eventually....
Unless people believe Obama is incapable of getting distracted....
Then again, I'm pretty sure he could ask RIM for a blackberry with a thumb scan and get one custom made....
Here's to losing my Karma Bonus again....
Mr. Obama is on my payroll (just like every State and Federal employee) and I want to know where my money is being spent.
I don't know what you pay in taxes but I let every City, State and Federal employee know that I want them to spend *MY* money properly. Sure, you say it is a small portion but when 39% of my cash goes to "the government", it is real fucking number to me.
I have a buddy who works for the city. We were discussing the recent zoning laws that changed (without my input) and I commented that "well, the city knows what's best". He laughed and said sometimes they don't. I asked then if he did his job well and if he knew how to do his job best and of course he said "I'd like to think so". I then commented "well, we have a conflict here". He was quite confused as to how to answer.
Personally, I'd like to see every congressperson have their financial dealings in read-only mode on the web for any US Citizen to read. "Public servants" are a thing of the past.
As a side note: I took my first State contract and made $4500 for a job someone who was paid $2000 could do in 1/8th of the time. I offered to find that person, save the State money and was denied the opportunity. That's the last time I worked for the State.
I must be missing something big, but isn't the point of a Blackberry the fact that everything goes through a $business-controlled server? One that can nuke the device from orbit whenever the admin says so? One that stores all the data securely?
I thought that's pretty much why RIM was able to get Blackberries into so many businesses - they could just buy a server that would integrate with their stuff and keep it all safe.
I'd actually be upset if he wasn't using a blackberry, but a less-secure cellphone
Or am I way off the mark for some reason, and why?
I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
It's about the fact that it can be 'tracked' -- just as the US has used cellphone tracking to hunt down bad-guys overseas, they can do the same thing to us if they know what cellphone we have.
It's not about the 'archival' of data. The Blackberry taps into YOUR traditional mail infrastructure. If you back it up, then your messages are archived.
No, it's more about the fact that an external company is granted access (usually via VPN) to your internal network (or at least part of it) and, more specifically, they get to keep a copy of your authentication credentials (so they can watch your new mail arrive, copy it, and delivery it to your device). Allowing a 3rd party company VPN access to a US government network with the Whitehouse mail server and, oh by the way, a copy of the president's username and password... well NOW maybe you can understand why they're nervous about security.
Frankly it would be better if he were addicted to an iPhone. At least with that solution you can host your email on any IMAP compliant mail server you want and nobody but you needs a copy of your security certificates, VPN gateway access, or username & passwords.
Doesn't he have more important things to do than write emails and call people? Won't he have a secretary to do all that for him?
Barbara, is that you?
My first program:
Hell Segmentation fault
Can't figure why... I mean, it's not like he has anything to hide, right?
That sinking feeling deep in your gut when you KNOW you screwed up bad summed up with: {head desk} {head desk}
whether the president can afford to put things in writing that will likely be exposed by courts and archivists later
Do you really WANT a leader who would write anything that should not be 'exposed'??
I thought you Americans were supposed to be against totalitarian government. Apparently not; you voted it in several times and appear to have learned nothing by it.
you had me at #!
Sure, just add an employee to look after the blackberry? Really? It's just that simple? Nixon, Ford, Carter, Bush and Clinton have all left behind the Nuclear Football at events.
This wasn't news when Bush was in office and he used a cell phone and a PDA too.
Actually, it was an issue for Bush, though it had nothing to do with phone calls or PDA functionality.
Obama is a notorious IM addict. He pretty much ran his campaign through his Blackberry. Now of course, you can use a Blackberry to make phone calls and track your appointments, but that's not why he's under pressure to give it up. The security wonks don't like the potential for text messages getting intercepted, and the lawyers don't like the legal exposure he'd get if the messages were subpoenaed or FOIAed.
I'm not sure if Bush ever had a Blackberry or a PDA, but he used to be a heavy email user. He went cold turkey when he assumed office. According to his "last email" that went out to all his correspondents, it was mainly about the legal exposure.
An NSA-approved smart phone is probably the solution to the security issue. (See one of the submissions in my sig.) I suspect Obama will just blow off the legal issue. He's supposed to be Mr. Open Government, after all.
Now I wait for my -1, didn't fangirl score.
And you'd deserve it! People who don't like fangirl stories (what happened to fanboys?) have no place on Slashdot!
But this is not a fanchild issue. Obama keeps talking about the dangers of living in the "Presidential Bubble". One way he wants to avoid this is to have a lot of contacts that aren't mediated by his underlings. A Blackberry or other pocket IM device is an obvious tool for this purpose.
I suspect he's being a little naive. He's going to be in charge of the biggest bureaucracy on the planet — does he really think that he can be on a first-person basis with the whole kaboodle? But hey, he's surprised us before!
The OP doesn't seem to actually understand the concerns. First of all, information sent and received from a device like a blackberry is hardly secure. They can't very well risk having confidential information absent-mindedly entered into a note on a phone or very private numbers/emails stuck in a phone book. Beyond someone physically getting a hold of the phone, it's entirely possible for the device to be accessed via blue tooth and such, which he could turn on just tinkering with the thing.
On the note of record retention. Records passed to and from officials can meet all kinds of retention laws. They don't have to be about top secret government business to need to be retained forever. In fact, many records that are deemed to be kept forever are actually public record, that have to be presentable upon request. So if he sends a message about making a plan for business (IE asking someone to come to a meeting), depending on the context, it could be a matter of public record forever. If his phone is destroyed and the document wasn't backed up, he would be screwed as soon as a court asked for his copy.
Hey, Come on... We are people at SLASHDOT... That used to mean "technology folks" that were usually involved in security, technology, and BOFH's... The RULE IS: NO Personal Communications Device. NO exceptions. Sorry you don't like the rules, Now enforce it. I think that is in the BOFH Rule book someplace.
If he can't live with this rule, what about the rest? What are we to think if he constantly considers himself "above the law?" This is just a start of the trend that eventually leads to corruption. (IF it already isn't so.)
Besides, All you might need is a laser and bounce it off of the screen when he's using it and anyone could read it... (oops, wrong tech? Does that work for LCD's?)
--- Relax, that mass muderer is just trying to reduce our carbon footprint, one fetus at a time...
"Somebody just has to be given the job of keeping track of the president's personal communication device."
That's it? THAT'S the best solution?
Is there a fallback plan if the person whose job it is makes a mistake? Or is this a job for someone who never makes mistakes?
Working for a state agency I am required to use a Blackberry vs. a smartphone or other PDA. This is suppossedly because it is more secure and has an encryption password built in that will wipe the phone if lost.
"The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget." -Thomas Szasz
Shouldn't we encourage the president to be doing anything that will make it easier for courts to know what he's up to? If the courts are interested in what's on his Blackberry, it means he's suspected of something serious, and we as citizens should want to make sure the court gets all the information about it as they can.
RIM's support for OSX is hideously outdated. It's basically a set of bandage solutions so that you can do the minimum amount of syncing and media management...but not at the same time.
This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it. - Dorothy Parker
It's not nearly that simple. Putting aside the issue of self-control, there are also many instances in which a President would want to deny ever having *received* a certain message, which is much harder to do when you check your email yourself on your Barackberry. Look at how easy it was for Bush and his senior staff to deny having received credible intelligence about a potential attack on 9/11. Had that intelligence been sent to him via email, and had he received that message on a blackberry, his administration would have been dead and buried years ago.
http://www.l-3com.com/cs-east/ia/smeped/ie_ia_smeped.shtml
for today's President on the go.
...the President elected to represent his/her nation cannot afford (even with secret court hearings and time-restricted public expoosure - often in the 50-100 year region) to communicate something that might be read by another person, one should not start by asking whether they can afford to write it down. Rather, they should start by asking why such communication is taking place at all. If, even in 100 years, a Presidental instruction is too hot for the nation to handle, long after all people involved and/or targeted are dead and buried (or, at least, dead and in cryogenic storage in Area 51), then perhaps that instruction should never be issued at all.
(If ultra-secure agencies regard 100 years as too short a time, add a 150-year rule, or a 200-year rule. The point is that future administrations may need that information for reasons of national security or national interest, and indeed are far more likely to do so to a far greater degree than any individual could possibly need to avoid personal criticism for recklessness and stupidity. Indeed, archivists are a vital ingredient in the prevention of recklessness and stupidity, whether that information is ever made available to the general public or not.)
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
History records President Obama's words upon receiving news of [tragic event that has yet to occur]:
"omg, wtf?
no sleep 2night! cu"
Speak 'n Spell doesn't count.
Be gone from my sight or prepare to feel my flaming wraith!
I would hire a dev team experienced in developing government certified applications and extend the device in the proper way. Even it that will cost millions, it will be the best marketing invenstion ever (it seldom happens that you can bill development directly to the marketing budget). Beeing mention ten more times on slashdot (Blackberry present obama with beta-blackberry, Blackberry open some source code, gets the ceritfication, invents a new logo, pack it into a platinum-corates titanium frame erc. are worth more than ads you can seriously buy for money...)
But he is the head of the government, while also being the head of state, as US of Americans would more likely call him. In a Presidential Republic, the President is usually invested with both roles.
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
Call it what it is.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
If he is activated on a BES, then he is using the government's email server, so any required backup and logging of his email can be done there. Also, on a blackberry, if you type the password wrong too many times (default is 10, but you can reduce that) it will wipe the device memory, likewise, on a BES, the admins can do a remote wipe, so any fears of it being lost at a diner and being used are pretty small. Likewise, they can lock out lots of other items, like SMS, other apps, and I believe other email sources as well from a BES. I don't see why he can't have one once the admins lock it down.
Xaotik Designs
Sounds like the engrish term for Blackberry.
I consider it a good sign that Barak Obama wants to keep his Blackberry. This, if anything, shows that he is willing to step up to a greater level of accessibility and responsibility. It is certainly a feather in his cap. Plus, I am sure RIM can develop a special Blackberry device that will allow Obama to safely have classified material transmitted to him.
Sure, but I don't expect him to actually be doing the calling or letter writing himself. It's his job to communicate with people, dialing the phones and typing the letters is clerical work. Think about all the hundreds or thousands of people the president may need to talk to. Surely he would have an assistant whose job it is to deal with all that.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Weren't there concerns that Bush staffers where using non-secure equipment for communications because they could be "cleaned" and wouldn't keep records, as required by law? Didn't the White House "lose" emails, including many from Karl Rove related to firings?
Who's to say Bush didn't do the same? I mean, who KNOWS what they covered up by not following procedure? Not that there is a large belief that Obama is a bad guy, but every President (and administration) must be held to higher standards and accountability from here forward. We see what being too trusting has brought us.
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
Or the first peace treaty over E-mail via Blackberry.
There could be all kinds of interesting firsts. I just love the fact that we have a president that actually has used the Internet first hand!!!
A president that can Google something for himself before making a decision.
Best of all he knows it's more then just a series of Tubes!
When I was a young hacker we actually got Regan on the phone while he was President. If only I actully would have had something to say. Instead we were just a bunch of scared kids getting a thrill.
I am just waiting till some one get's Obama's E-mail addresses.
For some young hacker this could either end up with a prison sentence or a cabinet position.
And just think presidential spam, soon he will have his fill of cheap Viagra adds. Then maybe we will see these spammers get there just dues.
I wonder if Obama@whitehouse.gov will work?
I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso
YOUR cell phone isn't a matter of national security. Besides, we don't have to pay anyone to do just that -- it's such a small responsibility that you can add it to the job description of an already-existing employee(s). Say, perhaps, the bodyguards whose job it is to protect his life with his own?
Make it a 30 second screen lock, and if you find you lost it, do a remote wipe.
I don't see how that is so damned complicated. Even if he loses it people keep track of everything "Mr. President, you have your socks, shoes, tie, OMG NO BLACKBERRY CALL THE IT DUDES!!!111!!!"
In a few moments the BB will be wiped, and with tracing software can be located. Solder the SIM in and it's easy to find too.
Jeez.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
Oh man, I think that's funny, let me ask some of my darker skinned brethren just to be sure.
I don't think this parent should be modded down though.
For god sakes everyone, it's not like everyone had to stop telling Irish jokes after JFK took office.
It's the spirit of the Joke that's important. I don't think this one was mean spirited. It is making fun of "political correctness" more then race.
I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso
Simply because the press won't push it as a problem. Rove using RNC accounts for business? Palin using online mail? Major scandal. Obama using private accounts for government business? Don't worry about it, he likes his Blackberry.
After the Bush executive branch 'lost' millions of emails in violation of the Presidential Records Act, and will probably never have a bit of legal trouble of their actions, why does legality matter?
Obama wants to bring change to the country then demand that laws get upheld and bring those to task who disregarded the Records Act millions of times. Don't want to tarnish a past President then at least disbar the white house counsel which may have known about it under Gonzales. Otherwise don't try to grandstand that you're following the law since it doesn't have any teeth whatsoever to be followed. Kinda like those other Dumb laws that were never taken off the books.
I don't think the Secret Service is going to let the prez carry around a homing device with a known frequency and easily traceable/trackable radio fingerprint. They're going to force him to use some military pocket radio device capable of anti-detection countermeasures.
Maybe his White House legal counsel will allow him to relay his SMS messages though this magic device and some White House firewall before going into the cloud... or Canada.
.
News Flash: President Obama was killed today when he accidentally miss-keyed the self desctruct feature of his Blackberry as he put it back into his pocket....
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
I don't know about white house comm. But; in the Air Force we are beginning to have to support specially designed blackberry like devices that not only support all of your conventional on the go services but also classified voice and data, like this this one. I don't know why seemingly every Colonel General in the Air Force can have one of these but the president couldn't
The Secret Service doesn't want the POTUS carrying around a transmitter with a unique ID that can be monitored and used to track his movements. Knowing the contents of his communications isn't the only security concern they have.
Have gnu, will travel.
You're posting a Bush insult on /., and he's still the most powerful man in the world. And you still live in your parents' basement. I'd say Bush has been more successful than you could ever dream to be... even if you do manage to move out of your parents' basement. Get a life and stop worshiping the one who's take our country down the toilet like Chicago.
He could always go insecure and just have an open Presidency, per his campaign promises.
Honestly, it would be a lot better for the country if he did. He would then have a lot more eyeballs on the country's issues, and as a great Finn once said, "With many eyeballs, all problems become shallow."
I like Obama and voted for him, but it takes balls, bigger ones than I think he has.
Use VPN for security. IMAP for email so all email can be saved from the server. Any texting or other items that fall through the crack are being captured by the NSA's domestic wiretapping program. They can just be polite and forward that to the Library of Congress for public record. Solved. Next problem. :-)
This is the man touting his "transparency" with the American public. Those of us who think the man is little more than a very slick used-car salesman (who has long-since oversold his case and has since his election been trying to back-down his true-believers and the media lapdogs who bend to his every whim) in a nice suit will laugh at the notion that he will actually be usefully-transparent with us. But, like his legions of naive believers, let's idealistically assume those Obammunists have their way.
So what? If Rod Blagojevich, Mayor Daley, and the rest of the Chicago crew -- that den of thieves of Crook County from which Barack is emerging -- haven't convinced you that more transparency in government is needed, nothing will.
Despite the more-limited powers enumerated by the Constitution, the Presidency has devolved into too-important a job to be entrusted to a single individual, ever. The POTUS, by design, is not a King. IMO, there is no email, phone call, written document, or word spoken, or any other moment in the President's life which should not be recorded and made available for all to see on the Internet (and though it would be popular for the purpose of outrage, I doubt there is much titillation to be had from Clinton's moments with Monica). *That* is true transparency -- the likes of which we will never see under any administration, ever -- not in the wildest fantasies of David Brin.
I could make exceptions for specific, i.e. technical details (dates, times, locations, force vectors, etc.) of ongoing or planned military offensives. But general discussions of such offensives? No (not that its lack is generally a concern anymore, given the evolved state of media attention towards governments).
Is Capitalism Good for the Poor?
As if a President has never left something crucially important behind before. Like, for instance, when Presidents have left the Nuclear Football carriers behind, forgetting about them for quite a while.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Could you really tell if Obama switched blackberries midstream and started writing emails that weren't documented. we have this rule to preserve checks and balances and the freedom of information acts. if it's written, it must be recorded. somehow you all miss the point, the president chooses advisors, those advisors come to him with information, he makes decisions based on that information. running the united states is a big task, last thing i want his our president wasting his time googling or making youtube videos. i can just see the presidential blog now... there's plenty of other things obama needs to worry about than having a blackberry, for christ sake he's got a personal assistant that follows him around everywhere, that's his own real live flesh blackberry.
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No, they left behind the aide who carried the football. The football was right where it was supposed to be, with the aid who kept track of it.
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite (TM)
It's interesting that the author thinks there's no real infosec issues. I don't think they've shown that at all. You can have all the fancy-shmancy encryption you like on the president's device, but it doesn't matter worth a damn unless the same encryption exists on the devices of all the people that the president is going to be sending messages to. And that's a lot of mobile devices to keep secure.
Additionally, the idea that you can solve many issues by saying pragmatically "well, the president will just have to not use it except for low-security matters" just ignores what we know about how humans use IT. There's no very obvious dividing line between low-security and high-security matters -- lots of things exist in the fuzzy middle -- and inevitably, the president will be tempted to use the device to do real work, which will mean treating more and more of the fuzzy middle as low-security.
I think the matter should be quite clear. If President-elect Obama thinks that using this device would let him do his job job more efficiently then he has a responsibility to do so.
It would also go a long way to saying (as he himself said on Meet The Press the other day when talking about CIA officials) that he is going to focus on getting the job done, and not about covering thing up from lawyers.
Lastly it makes for a great step in trying to repair the image of the executive branch of US government in that the presumption is that what he writes doesn't NEED to be censored from public scrutiny.
Funny, I think it should be obvious to him alone why he should not use such a device. ....I see people all day on a blackberry, without ever accomplishing real work,
If everywhere you go, you need a secure line to talk to someone, or a cell, then you use that...
the blackberry is for people that have constantly people nagging them with emails and text messages, he will have someone do filtering on that for him, to know what he should be spending his precious time on,
yet it now becomes obvious it takes up too much time in their day for them to be productive.
I don't see the president having time to do any blackberrying.
I can see him sending a text message to his wife or kids to tell them he misses them, that would be ok, but the truth is, aside from that, if someone knows you have a blackberry, they will use that first to contact you, and his day will be spent with every politician using that to contact him , instead of the regular filtered channels.
Its not even a security issue, more then it is a productive one.
Ok for family, but everything else nay!
Princess Beatrice recently had her car stolen while she was under full security detail. One of the security people should have noticed that she left the keys in the car, but no one did.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/4165229/Thieves-steal-Princess-Beatrices-BMW-after-she-left-keys-in-ignition.html
He can switch to an Android device...
Since there is pretty much one Android device that means the only option is TMobile which is owned by Deutsche Telekom. Somehow presidential communications going through a foreign controlled mobile phone operator seems like just as bad an idea as using RIM which routes traffic through Canada. I guess they could switch it to AT&T if needed.
Here a good idea, let's issues a 3G laptop with a certified secure mail program on it to one of the Secret Service agents that follows him around all day. Then when they get an e-mail he can be timely alerted and he could dictate all responses to said SecretServiceBerry. Problem solved. In fact this is better then a blackberry, because you have a larger device to use. The only reason to carry a blackberry is because typically smaller devices are less of a hassle, no so with a SecretServiceBerry.
if the President has nothing to hide, then he shouldn't be worried right?
Like firing prosecutors. Like if he fired Fitzgerald and the Blago prosecution kind of stalled, questions into contacts with Obama not asked. But the decision making behind the firing was not accessible by FOIA or Congress. To me that makes a huge scandal possibly worthy of impeachment. It would go nowhere if that did happen. It would be deemed not newsworthy, not worthy of criminal investigation.