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Obama Keeps His Blackberry (And Gets a Sectera)

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the good-cuz-crazy-glue-hurts dept.

InternetVoting writes "After all the controversy surrounding Obama's Blackberry, word has come that he will get to keep it. Few details are available and neither the National Security Agency nor the White House are talking. The current rumor is that the Blackberry will be used exclusively for personal use and a Sectera Edge will be used for official communications."

8 of 365 comments (clear)

  1. Should be interesting... by daveschroeder · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The main reason for the President himself to not to have something like a personal BlackBerry or other personal communications devices -- ones which is he is publicly known to have, anyway -- is simply the high-profile nature and symbolism of the target. It doesn't matter that other federal agencies and the military use them for one purpose or another.

    This is the case even with all the compelling "finger on the pulse of [insert subject du jour here]" and Information Age tempo arguments. The fact is that the President will have an army of aides who can all have their fingers directly on the multitude of things that the President cares about and needs to know about.

    And in the event that a case is made, internal to the administration, that the President -- now or in the future -- really needs to have his own personal communications device(s), that fact in itself -- not to mention the specific equipment and carriers -- doesn't need to be, and, frankly, shouldn't be, publicly disclosed.

    Also, from the article:

    Obama and other officials won't be able to use Instant Messaging in the White House.

    This is for a variety of reasons, but security is not necessarily one of them. For example, an IM service offered by the DNI's Intelligence Community Enterprise Solutions group does provide instant messaging services using the open Jabber protocol up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level.

    1. Re:Should be interesting... by diersing · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I just hope they cross the GPS signal with another device that is, you know, not tracking the President's exact location.

    2. Re:Should be interesting... by Dun+Malg · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Whatever. "I am the head of the Executive Branch. I will use my crackberry, and you will find a way to make me untraceable just the same as you found a way for me to walk down a D.C. street without getting shot. Is that clear?" "Yes Mr. President."

      The end.

      Probably the solution is as simple as, "Don't use your Blackberry's wireless connection." But I don't know; that's what security experts are for. Everyday I see Congressmen using cellphones; if those can be secure enough to carry day-to-day government business, why not other wireless devices?

      Chickenhead congressmen aren't really privy to the sort of information the president is. And securing a crackberry is like trying to secure a paper bag. No president is going to be so stupid as to demand that. The government doesn't control RIM, so they are in no position to change the nature of the communications protocol, no matter what the president demands. A crackberry can't be made secure. That's why they have companies like General Dynamics making Sectera secure phones.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    3. Re:Should be interesting... by blincoln · · Score: 4, Interesting

      No, they don't...but if they get a call from the new president saying "gosh, I'd love to use a Blackberry, giving you rocking publicity, if only it could be nice and secure..." I have a feeling they'll work closely with the secret service on getting it right,

      The BlackBerry model by design is insecure (from a national security perspective). All of the data communication is routed through systems owned by a Canadian corporation (RIM). They claim it's encrypted end-to-end. I've seen enough of their backend applications (in the form of the BlackBerry "Enterprise" Server) to suspect that even if the communication is encrypted, it would be trivial for someone at RIM to decrypt it.

      --
      "...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
  2. DoD use Blackberries by OffTheLip · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Since Obama is commander in chief of the military shouldn't he be able to use the same technology (Blackberry) they use? If our national defense is entrusted to a product why would that not be good enough for the boss?

  3. Idiotic WashPo Story by Cornwallis · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The Washington Post had a truly idiotic story today entitled: "Staff Finds White House in the Technological Dark Ages" that seemed (to me) silly. Among the statements: " The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software." seemed the silliest in that it implies that six-year old software (WinXP?) is "old". The author needs to be told that just because newer is available doesn't mean there is a business sense to use it! From the article: "What does that mean in 21st-century terms? No Facebook to communicate with supporters. No outside e-mail log-ins. No instant messaging. Hard adjustments for a staff that helped sweep Obama to power through, among other things, relentless online social networking." The young'uns should learn there are reasons to make those things unavailable. Like, uhhh, security? Think back to when Clinton took office and his minions were saying the same kinds of things about the WH phone system left by Bush 1...that is used "dial phones" (for christ's sake!)...and everything had to go through the WH switchboard. There was a reason for that as the Clintonites found when they "modernized". Suddenly the WH began leaking info like a sieve when the "new technology" was adopted. Watch for the same thing to happen here! For the record: I didn't vote for Obama or McCain but it seems like this article was another kick at GWB.

  4. National Security by javacowboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    To put my comments in their proper context, it's a good idea to disclose that I'm Canadian.

    Having said that, I understand the national security concerns with Obama using a Blackberry. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't all Blackberry traffic pass through RIM's servers in Waterloo, Ontario. Given the fact that such information can be intercepted on foreign soil should be worrisome to a U.S. security agency such as the NSA.

    Other smartphones don't appear to have that problem. Perhaps the NSA can persuade Obama to get an iPhone instead? :D

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    This space left intentionally blank.
  5. Re:So, all this talk about Bush emails and... by BobMcD · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Where do you draw the line?

    Here's my line:

    Is he still the President? Record everything.

    No longer the President? Stop recording.

    Its a volunteer position, and he is there to serve us, not the other way around.

    Don't confuse President with CEO.