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BlackBerry Says Its New Android Smartphone DTEK 50 Is the 'World's Most Secure' (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the new-phones,-old-company dept.

BlackBerry, which once assumed the tentpole position in the mobile market, announced on Tuesday the BlackBerry DTEK 50, its second smartphone powered by Google's Android operating system. The Canadean company is marketing the DTEK as the 'world's most secure' phone. It is priced at $300, and will go on sale in select markets on August 8. The Verge adds:The DTEK50 has a 5.2-inch, 1080p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, 3GB RAM, 13-megapixel camera, and 2,610mAh battery. The 8-megapixel front camera also includes a flash for taking selfies. It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with BlackBerry's software features, such as the Hub. The software is similar to the software on the Priv released last year. The security features are highlighted right in the device's name, as it has BlackBerry's DTEK software that protects users from malware and other security problems often seen on Android smartphones. The DTEK app lets users quickly get an overview of their device's security and take action on any potential issues. BlackBerry says that it has modified Android with its own technology originally developed for the BB10 platform to make it more secure. The company is also committing to rapid updates to deliver security patches shortly after they are released.

58 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Try again. by wkwilley2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The "world's most secure" comes with free backdoor access for anyone who comes knocking.

    No thanks BB, you're no longer relevant.

    --
    Have you ever fallen asleep at the keybhanusdiog?
    1. Re:Try again. by saloomy · · Score: 2

      Yeah.... No Thanks Mr. Chen. Apple's phone is more secure than anything you believe in making. Read Here

    2. Re:Try again. by msauve · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yep. Link right here, describing their "security."

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    3. Re:Try again. by uniquegeek · · Score: 1

      Yeah, they gave up the rights to say that three years ago. Which means now they have essentially nothing differentiating them from their competitors.

      I really liked the hub separation, but now you can't say "I'm buying a BB10-style device for security reasons".

      They had a series of boneheaded moves that was bringing their demise, but this was truly the last nail in the coffin.

    4. Re:Try again. by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      how do you KNOW apple is more secure?

      have you seen all the files in the source build chain, along with auditing the silicon used in all data paths?

      of course not.

      we have apples' WORD that its secure.

      maybe its true, maybe its all a PR stunt and they cooperate with LEOs just as much as BB does.

      you and I and 99.9% of the world have zero insight into this. lets be honest, shall we?

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    5. Re:Try again. by Penguinisto · · Score: 2

      Exactly. Not to mention that it appears (at least to me) that Blackberry is desperately casting about for a niche to make itself relevant.

      There's no longer a real difference difference between what Blackberry makes and what is made by LG, Samsung, Huawei, Motorola, Xiaomi, ASUS, Sony... so what's the point of getting a Blackberry again?

      They had a chance long ago, but chose to sit on their fat laurels instead of innovating. This is what they get as a result.

      (I mean, damn, if they were to go Android early-on and customize/modify it for BES, then improve BES itself and give that away to enterprises, they might have had a chance to stay at least somewhat relevant... )

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    6. Re:Try again. by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      However with Apple Popularity, You would expect to hear about hacking exploits all the time and some open to the world problems that will demand that you upgrade. and Hear about people with old phones who can't upgrade getting hacked and all this other nasty stuff.

      Honestly I hear more about android hacks (inside malware available on the Google Store) then from Apple.

      I am not saying Apple is golden. However current history shows it is rather good.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    7. Re:Try again. by saloomy · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, for starters at the very least, they STATE that their end-goal is to be secure. So thats a good starting point. Now lets look at the biggest tell-tale sign: no evidence to the contrary. We have discussed on ./ and have come to the consensus (yeah, right!) that no secret can be kept for very long since it would involve a large number of people. The Snowden's of the organization would leak it, if for nothing else, to be seduced by Anna Chapman , or it would be common knowledge among LEO investigators. It is not currently.

      There have been many people, including FBI Director James Comey whom have sworn before Congress that they can not crack iOS 9 on modern iPhones. Not in a round-a-bout testimony either. Doing so while having knowledge of the contrary is flat-out illegal, and Comey doesn't have the political clout of Hillary to lie to Congress and keep his freedom. He would not lie so willfully, he would bob and weave to avoid answering the questions related to it.

      But even IF he lied, and even IF the govt was able to keep it a secret, and even IF Apple believes one thing and does another. So?

      It's obviously too important a secret to blow open for the likes of whatever information you have to hide, and so in a court of law, you would simply use the fruit-of-a-poisoned-tree defense to get whatever was being held against you thrown out, effectively disarming the threat against you. iPhones are pretty secure.

    8. Re:Try again. by mark-t · · Score: 1

      No... just law enforcement.

      I had once thought that this was because of a provincial court ruling that ordered them to do so, but I've been told since that this was not the case, so I can't say I'm entirely sure what would have happened if they had made any real attempt to argue against it. Perhaps they didn't feel it was worth the fight, particularly if they thought they would only lose anyways.

      I fully agree with your main point, however.

      --
      File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    9. Re:Try again. by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 2

      The heart of the matter: software is moot if there is not true, verifiable, open hardware from the lithographs on up.

    10. Re:Try again. by JohnFen · · Score: 2

      I don't think there's any such thing as 'secure' anymore, not for anything.

      Anymore?

      If you think of security as a binary proposition (either you have it or you don't), then nothing has ever been secure. All security falls somewhere on a continuum, and absolute security is an ideal that cannot ever be actually achieved.

    11. Re:Try again. by greenfruitsalad · · Score: 1

      For starters, Apple's CEO doesn't go around criticising competitors for not having a "responsible", FBI approved backdoor. Chen is really Eloping that company.

    12. Re:Try again. by zugmeister · · Score: 1

      you and I and 99.9% of the world have zero insight into this.

      So let's review what we know of the situation and make our decisions based on the facts available?
      BB: It's our responsibility as a responsible company to let TLA's and LEO's in on our customer's data if they have a good reason.
      Apple: Was publicly sued to compel cooperation in unlocking a phone.

      As far as I can see we can't definitively say who is doing what, but which company would you say has a better chance of giving a shit about keeping customer data secure?

    13. Re: Try again. by saloomy · · Score: 1

      Prove otherwise.

    14. Re:Try again. by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      A corporate side hole would be unknowable until used. You can set it up to remote wipe and all that. And remote background backups and such. So how would a researcher be able to prove that Apple can't take the phone, update the settings for only that one IMEI to turn on background backups, then decrypt the backup server-side? Oh, you can't prove that hole doesn't exist. The only reason we think it doesn't is that Apple says so, and the FBI and Apple worked together for a massive publicity campaign to "prove" it to the world.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    15. Re:Try again. by AK+Marc · · Score: 2, Insightful

      BB is also the only one that let you own your own messaging server and run everything through there, with encryption they had zero control over. That makes it 100% better than everyone else.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
    16. Re:Try again. by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      too much BS. I hope you don't believe that. we don't (and I'm sure I speak for a lot more than myself).

      what do you mean "IF he lied". he's a published known on-the-fucking-books liar. time and time again. he has more holes in his stories than swiss cheese. (this guy is quoting comey to me. wow. and he thinks that's a defense of some sort. double wow.)

      I see no reason to trust apple on their word. and what they SAY - who cares. at the end of the say, they con us, many of us believe them, they have whatever agreements with full 'we will make your life a living hell' NDA they all signed (not literally, I hope) and no one is allowed to know. they make more money than god and their story is working for them. god bless them, I guess! but I don't believe one word of anything any of those guys say. I have no reason to believe that HONESTLY is in anyone's vocabulary - who is at that level, at least. simply not something they even care to practice. they say things to get things done and to get what they want. this is the personality that we put in charge, all the fucking time! don't you understand?

      believe what you want, but too much is at stake to just trust talking heads who make billions of dollars on their story. life has many levels and black/white thinking is not helpful in most cases.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  2. "most secure" by celeb8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The world's most secure smartphone, if you trust every government in the world and BlackBerry employees given the authority to choose which government requests they assist with by ignoring your privacy...

    1. Re:"most secure" by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Most secure if you also ignore Chen's frequent attacks on Apple for not just handing data over to the US government... which, when you think about it, rather suggests that Blackberry's products are not really all that secure at all.

      I'd get worked up, but the reality is that no one really gives a flying fuck anymore about Blackberry.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:"most secure" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That was my thought too. While the current CEO is leading Blackberry, there is no way i am touching their products. They obviously cannot be trusted with anything security related.

  3. Its secure enogh that you wont notice by future+assassin · · Score: 3, Informative

    the RCMP snooping through your phone https://news.vice.com/article/...

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
  4. Doesn't the CEO's recent comments counter this? by UnknowingFool · · Score: 3, Informative

    BlackBerry CEO Chen recently said he was "disturbed" by Apple's stance on security. Namely Apple refused to work with the FBI to create special OS to allow an iPhone to be brute force cracked. "If the world is in danger, we should be able to help out," he said. How does this resolve with this BlackBerry being "the most secure". I read that statement as BlackBerry would have cooperated with the FBI to hack a customer's phone. What is to stop BlackBerry from planting backdoors in their OS to allow this?

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    1. Re:Doesn't the CEO's recent comments counter this? by gaudior · · Score: 1

      What is to stop BlackBerry from planting backdoors in their OS to allow this?

      I think it's a given that they HAVE done this. To paraphrase Michael Dell, "Close the doors, sell off the assets, and give the money back to the stock holders." They're done.

    2. Re:Doesn't the CEO's recent comments counter this? by NotInHere · · Score: 1

      Its "most secure" as in "this phone enables governments to keep their countries most secure", not as in "this phone keeps the user's data most secure from the government". Or at least what blackberry thinks governments need to keep their countries secure.

      All depends on the definition.

    3. Re:Doesn't the CEO's recent comments counter this? by ADRA · · Score: 1

      Well, not to say anything about the nature of Blackberry's security, but certainly a CEO who's largest clients are government and law enforcement are going to cow tow to his client's position.

      Oh hi , you're a fascist dictators who make the world less secure, now piss off.

      --
      Bye!
    4. Re:Doesn't the CEO's recent comments counter this? by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Well, in theory, one could be secure from malicious hackers/non-governmental eavesdroppers, while still totally exposed to government snooping. I mean, Obama amazing security, and yet the government can track his every move.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    5. Re:Doesn't the CEO's recent comments counter this? by Chas · · Score: 1

      It is NOT a "given" that they've done this.

      It's a FACT.

      http://www.zdnet.com/article/c...

      They've basically turned over their master encryption key to law enforcement.

      And they not only did not tell investors or device owners about it, they used legal shenanigans to try and stop the fact that they'd done this from leaking!

      Right now I'd put more trust in dropping the soap in the presence of an unrepentant serial prison rapist than in Blackberry security right now.

      Fuck, I'd trust HILLARY CLINTON before I'd trust Blackberry!

      --


      Chas - The one, the only.
      THANK GOD!!!
  5. Oh! that's rich! by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    Blackberry.. secure

    Gremlins.. little green men...HAHAHAHA!

    Ohhh murrrder!

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  6. Re:What's the point? by saloomy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Android is Open Source, so one could strip all the Google analytics out of it. I believe this is what Amazon has done with Fire, and what Cyanogen has done? They have displaced google services for their own, or third parties. I remember reading on how to change Android to use duckduckgo secure search. I still don't trust BBY to do it though.

  7. How secure is it? by Kjella · · Score: 1

    So secure, they've eliminated the users. And to further enhance security they'll soon bury them in a landfill. Why do we even bother running the story? They make Linux on the desktop seem mainstream...

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  8. Dear Blackberry... by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Informative

    Does it report when I am on a government spying cellphone tower?
    Does it report when the connection is untrusted or detects a MITM?
    Does it do encryption without using ANY of your services?
    Does it not allow any software to be installed without rebooting to an admin mode and then only allows offline apk installs?
    Does it wipe all user storage before reboot?

    No?

    Then it is not secure.... in fact it's insecure as hell.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:Dear Blackberry... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It can be the most secure smartphone in the world still, if all others are worse.

    2. Re:Dear Blackberry... by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      Silent Circle's Blackphone 2

      Their phone kicks the shit out of blackberry.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  9. Re:On the Vine! by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

    Is Where It Is Destined To ROT!

    Wait - how did you learn what their new encryption scheme was going to be?

    Now they're going to have to start all over... geez.

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  10. The "Canadean" company by Krazy+Kanuck · · Score: 3, Informative

    I didn't realize Blackberry was owned by a softdrink research company. www.canadean.com

  11. Aren't these the guys who... by evolutionary · · Score: 1

    Were giving access codes to their encryption to the US Government early on?

    --
    "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
  12. Tentpole? by tsqr · · Score: 2

    BlackBerry, which once assumed the tentpole position in the mobile market

    "Frozen" is a tent pole for Disney. The iPhone is a tent pole for Apple. The Galaxy line of phones is a tent pole for Samsung. There is no such thing as a "tentpole position" in a market. Perhaps the editor meant "pole position"?

  13. BlackBerry Android with enhanced security features by khz6955 · · Score: 2

    "BlackBerry says that it has modified Android with its own technology originally developed for the BB10 platform to make it more secure"

    Are there any technical details as to how BlackBerry achieves enhanced security on Android?

  14. BB security and BES by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The "world's most secure" comes with free backdoor access for anyone who comes knocking.

    Only if you get your mail through a telco.

    If you have your own BES server (i.e., corporate or government orgs), then BB/RIM can't touch it... and that's who they're marketing this to.

    1. Re:BB security and BES by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

      Also make sure that no bloatware exists on the phone.

      Third party bloat apps are the primary cause for problems.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  15. BackdoorBerry wants your money! by NightDreamer · · Score: 1

    They sure stood with Apple in a fight with the feds over security. Oh wait...

  16. Re:BlackBerry Android with enhanced security featu by bigdady92 · · Score: 1

    They put a BB10 logo over the back of an iPhone?

    --
    Wheel of Time: Book by Book and Sumview (summary review) Bigdady92 style: http://bigdady92.blogspot.com/
  17. DTEK - How clever by blueshift_1 · · Score: 1

    This from BlackBerry advertising: Detect.. Detek... Dtek, get it guys? Can we be relevant again? Please?

  18. It's a sad, sad, sad, day. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Ok even if it were true that the Blackberry was secure, which it isn't. It's still a sad day that we need a special phone to protect ourselves from our own government.

  19. They say "secure"... by hyperar · · Score: 1

    But they'll hand your data as soon as the goverment asks for it.

  20. The nerve... by XSportSeeker · · Score: 1

    It's really sad that the whole fracas about Blackberry handing a single encryption key that opened up the doors to all non-corporate Blackberry users for the Canadian Mounted Police got burried and didn't get enough attention from costumers, but at least for me, the company is fucking dead regarding privacy and security.

    It really shows how much the news was ignored when the same company dares to say they came up with the world's most secure phone after all that. John Chen (Blackberry's CEO) made his position extremely clear. It's still there for anyone who wants to read it: http://blogs.blackberry.com/20...

    This was written after it was revealed that Blackberry was using a single encryption key for all users of non-corporate Blackberry accounts. Canadian Mounted Police was given access to it in a glarringly major security and privacy flaw. The company caved in on giving keys to conversations of all it's costumers because the Canadian Mounted Police wanted to have access to some criminal conversations. It's basically the same thing as if Apple decided to open backdoors for the FBI.

    I can only imagine that the company didn't close after that due to common users' ignorance. People failed to understand how something like this puts the company as the worst among all regarding privacy and security. Luckly for all of us, Blackberry is already dying anyways.

  21. Canadean? by nyet · · Score: 2

    Where is "Canadean" stuff made?

    1. Re:Canadean? by drunken_boxer777 · · Score: 1

      Where is "Canadean" stuff made?

      In Canadea, of course!

  22. Rebranded Alcatel Idol 4 by kosmosik · · Score: 4, Informative

    This phone is basically rebranded Alcatel Idol 4 (which Alcatel itself rebrands from chinese TCL corporation) with custom Blackberry ROM and software.

    I would rather buy Blackphone for security.

  23. Those guys? by blaine00 · · Score: 1

    Blackberry is still a thing?

  24. BWAHAHAHAHA by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 1

    BlackBerry + Secure = Completely Amusing

    ( We swear we won't give up the encryption keys this time ! Really ! Pinky Swear ! )

  25. I found that disturbing as a citizen by Humbubba · · Score: 1

    Secure against what? Don't they know that the lion's share of the really dangerously sophisticated hacks and digital weaponry originate from The Government? I am disturbed by the fruit company's harmful attitude to society. We are in a dark place when companies put their reputations above the greater good. It doesn't matter how much it might hurt society, they're not going to help. I think BlackBerry like any company, should have a basic civil responsibility. If the world is in danger, we should help it out.

    1. Re:I found that disturbing as a citizen by Humbubba · · Score: 1

      With plagiarist's apologies to the staff writers for BlackBerry's CEO, John Chen.

  26. Does it talk to Blackberry servers? by JohnFen · · Score: 1

    If so, then it isn't even in the running for "most secure".

  27. Bend over by Quzak · · Score: 1

    It isn't secure if you give anyone access. Blackberry, keep failing man. Keep failing.

    --
    Support your local school shooter, give them your firearms.
  28. Re:Poor Blackberry by macs4all · · Score: 1

    Apple and Android devices that viciously track and spy on them

    Say all you want about Android and Tracking/Spying; but leave Apple out of this.

  29. Creative misspelling by AstroSurf · · Score: 1

    > Canadean

    Geez Louise, manishs! It's *CANADIAN*! Now write it out 500 times. :P

    --
    Astro
  30. First of all 2 things by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    1) BB has always maintained that they will cooperate with the legal privacy practices within the countries they operate in. Within Canada that means that if the RCMP want to take a peak they will need to get a judge to give them a warrant to do so. I believe there is an exception where they would have to prove there is "imminent" risk to life, which due to a somewhat recent ruling is likely difficult to do. If you think it is otherwise for any other phone, you are fooling yourself.

    2) Technically they said the "phone" is the most secure. They said nothing of their servers which may be recording everything and open for inspection! :)

    I've never had a BB and I doubt I would get one. However on the topic of security, if you are depending on any companies claims you probably will be disappointed. If you want to be truly secure, you need to do that personally and there are ways to achieve that both in technology and process. It likely won't be very convenient, as security never is, but that really depends how important it is to you. For most people (99.99999%) there is no need for ultra iron clad security anyway, nothing I say or do is really all that important really.