Reuters reports that the European Union Commission have canned the idea of toting BlackBerries upon security concerns that governments can’t monitor the traffic: RIM deploys their own servers which handle encrypted messages that keep communications secured. The strongest selling point of the BlackBerry is starting to become a major problem.
British bank Standard Chartered said earlier this year it was giving its staff the option to replace the BlackBerry with the iPhone, a move that could eventually result in thousands of bankers switching.
And many top French government ministers have been issued specially encrypted smartphones after a French security agency recommended that cabinet ministers and President Nicolas Sarkozy stop using BlackBerries due to security concerns.
RIM’s Chief Technology Officer David Yach retorted that the importance of the BlackBerry via the use from state officials would keep their mobile phone in the hands of the government, though I imagine RIM is particularly beside themselves as corporations begin adopting and deploying other devices such as the iPhone.
[via Reuters]