All Entries Tagged With: "government"

Mac Sales for Government and Enterprise Rise in June

According to calculations by Needham & Company analyst Charlie Wolf, sales of Mac computers for government agencies saw a rise of 200% during the month of June alone. That’s almost three times more the market share than in previous months. Wolf also stated that Mac sales for enterprise experienced a faster and higher growth rate of more than 100% in the largest businesses.

It seems that Mac sales were actually even higher than PC sales in most industries. Wolf used IDC’s numbers for calendar Q2 to come up with analysis.

Do take into account that these are just calculations by an analyst, and might not reflect the official number.

Research In Motion Points Out 4 Main Principles of Lawful Access to BlackBerry Data

Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion issued yesterday yet another statement regarding its recent negotiations with Asian countries over access to BlackBerry data. More specifically, the announcement was made in response to a statement issued by the Indian government. In it, RIM highlights the four main principles that the governments the company is negotiating with must follow to lawfully gain access to BlackBerry data.

Research In Motion states that it’s cooperating with with governments as much as possible in “the spirit of supporting legal and national security requirements, while also preserving the lawful needs of citizens and corporations.” The company then goes on to point out the following four principles:

• 1. The carriers’ capabilities be limited to the strict context of lawful access and national security requirements as governed by the country’s judicial oversight and rules of law.
• 2. The carriers’ capabilities must be technology and vendor neutral, allowing no greater access to BlackBerry consumer services than the carriers and regulators already impose on RIM’s competitors and other similar communications technology companies.

Attackers Target Gmail In China, Forwarding Users To Phishing Site

What has been described as an intricate act of malice, it would appear as if attackers in China has hijacked Google’s Gmail operations, forwarding users of the service to a bogus phishing website to collect usernames and passwords.

No particular circumstances are required; simply some users visiting the Gmail website are forwarded to http://124.117.227.201/web/gmail/ [note: don't go to the site, please], where they are asked to enter their username and password. Once entered, the malicious minds behind the hijack have what they sought to obtain.

Given that China’s relationship to Google is on the rocks, conspiracy theorists have assumed that this is a plot by the Chinese government and Internet Service Providers within the country to invoke fear of Gmail, resulting in users not trusting the service.

Research In Motion, Saudi Arabia Reach Preliminary Agreement Over BlackBerry Data

Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry smartphone manufacturer Research In Motion and Saudi Arabia have reportedly reached a preliminary agreement over the way user data is handled. Apparently, RIM will set up a local server in the Middle Eastern country in order to prevent a widespread ban of its BlackBerry services. Although Research In Motion  might deny it, the server will most likely allow government officials to access and monitor BlackBerry data.

“A preliminary agreement has already been reached and a formal deal between the parties is in the final stages of negotiations,” indicated a Saudi Arabia-based telecom operator involved in the talks.

Saudi Arabia BlackBerry Data Ban Begins Today

While you were fast asleep last night, the Saudi government was hard at work making sure that BlackBerry data services no longer work. Yes, it’s that time. With only a few short days of notice, thousands (if not millions) of BlackBerry users in the land of sand.

At this point in time, there doesn’t appear to be an end in site to the data ban, even though RIM co-founder Mike Lazaridis is hopeful. Still, that doesn’t help the many folks who will need to get a new mobile phone for the sake of being able to email and instant message — and also so the Saudi government can spy on them, to be quite frank.

Certainly, it will be interesting to see where this matter goes. The United Arab Emirates is slated to flip the data switch on Wednesday, October 11th, bringing even more BlackBerry users into the dark ages.

RIM Said To Allow BlackBerry Snooping In India, Says Reports Are False

According to some reports that have surfaced on Tuesday, it would appear as if BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has come to an agreement with the local Indian government to monitor consumer activity on their BlackBerry devices. Monitoring, of course, would include the snooping of both BlackBerry Messenger messages and emails.

But Waterloo-based RIM is coming out an calling the reports a crock [not literally]. Know for their incredible encryption methods, the company stands by the fact that they fully intend on keeping their services snooper-free. For now, anyway. The company is reportedly in talks with the Indian government, who is concerned about the highly-secure platform.

Could RIM’s debunking simply be a facade? Possibly, and we would expect no other reaction in a case like this. Ultimately, however, time will tell what’s really in store for Indian BlackBerry users.

Google Introduces Google Apps for Government

This morning, Google held a special press event at its Mountain View headquarters to introduce its new edition of Google Apps exclusively for governments. According to The Official Google Blog, the new Google Apps for Government was designed and created with the help of the federal government, the City of Los Angeles, and the City of Orlando to include the necessary measures to address the policy and security needs of the public sector.

Google goes on to explain that its new Google Apps for Government is the “first suite of cloud computing applications to receive Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) certification and accreditation from the U.S. government.” This should make it easier for federal agencies across the country to compare their security settings with those of their existing systems.

Jailbreaking Your iPhone Legal Now Thanks To New Law

There’s been talk here and there about how jailbreaking and unlocking your Apple device (be it the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad) is illegal. Still, it doesn’t stop scores of people from doing it. But there’s seemingly never been official word from Uncle Sam with regard to the legalities of jailbreaking/unlocking a device — until now, that is.

According to the Associated Press, the Library of Congress agrees that you can legally jailbreak your iDevice to install third-party applications not approved by Apple. From the article:

Owners of the iPhone will be able to break electronic locks on their devices in order to download applications that have not been approved by Apple. The government is making that legal under new rules announced Monday.

AT&T Introduces Encrypted Mobile Voice Services

In an effort to focus its efforts on the enterprise market, Dallas, Texas-based AT&T recently announced in an official press release the introduction of its new “Encrypted Mobile Voice” service, which the company calls the first mobile-to-mobile voice encryption solution in the U.S. The encryption is apparently done utilizing a “two-factor authentication” method. The new service will provide high-level security calls throughout the entire AT&T wireless network for government agencies, law enforcement organizations, financial services institutions, and international businesses. The service is expected to be launched later this quarter.

Press release in the full post.