Research In Motion’s new OS isn’t secure anymore thanks to a jailbreak
 

There has been word for the past few days that Research In Motion's PlayBook has been jailbroken. What this means is that, for the first time ever in RIM's history, root access has been gained into a BlackBerry operating system. Why is this a big deal? Well, of RIM's few remaining strengths, one of them was security, both in terms of encrypting and securing the messages you send over the RIM network, and device security. It's why BlackBerry products became so popular with enterprises and governments' security. That device is so secure, that even the President of the United States uses one. Read on for more.

RIM's new operating system, however, is a different beast. It's more powerful and it is certainly capable, but it also looks like it's been hacked, broken into, and manipulated by a few individuals who have demonstrated that they have access to something that no one outside of RIM has ever had access to.

Guess what operating system RIM's BlackBerry smartphones are going to run? The same one that was jailbroken, opening up the possibility that forthcoming smartphones and tablets from Research In Motion will be subject to the same cat and mouse game that jailbreakers play with Apple. This means that the security of a BlackBerry will not ever be the same as long as someone out there is able to exploit a vulnerability in RIM's BBX operating system, and as far as I know, apps aren't sandboxed at all like they are on iOS. Not all apps are encrypted (aside from what, Password Keeper?), so once you root the device, you have access to all of the data on that BlackBerry product - a concept that enterprise and government BlackBerry clients will not be happy about. In fact, I'd venture on to say that this is probably the biggest threat to RIM right now if this turns out to be true. For RIM's enterprise and government customers to be thinking about the fact that the upcoming phones and devices could be unsecure, is a big, big deal.

Re: Research In Motion’s new OS isn’t secure anymore thanks to a jailbreak
 

Yep. I've been following this and am quite shocked that people are thrilled that this has happened.

Re: Research In Motion’s new OS isn’t secure anymore thanks to a jailbreak
 

Looks very similar to something that Jonathan Geller wrote earlier today.
Research In Motions new OS isnt secure anymore thanks to a jailbreak

Re: Research In Motion’s new OS isn’t secure anymore thanks to a jailbreak
 

RIM just can't seem to catch a break lately. It will be interesting to see how they handle this.

Re: Research In Motion’s new OS isn’t secure anymore thanks to a jailbreak
 

That's it.

Re: Research In Motion’s new OS isn’t secure anymore thanks to a jailbreak
 

They have already made a comment:

Research In Motion (RIM) is aware of a claim made on Twitter by security researchers working together that suggests the ability to "jailbreak" a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The term "jailbreaking" is commonly used to describe altering the software on a smartphone or tablet in order to obtain access to systems or applications not officially authorized or distributed by the manufacturer. BlackBerry smartphone users are not affected. RIM is currently investigating this claim and has been in contact with one of the security researchers to discuss it.

RIM is currently not aware of a jailbreak being leveraged by anyone other than the researchers, who claim to have performed a jailbreak on their own BlackBerry PlayBook tablets only. If it is determined that the claim is accurate, RIM will follow its standard response process to develop and release a software update that is designed to minimize adverse impact to our customers or carrier partners. RIM is aware that the security researchers have stated they intend to release a tool to jailbreak the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. If such a tool is released, RIM will investigate it.

The security of mobile devices and major networked systems is tested by third-party security researchers every day. RIM also continually tests the security of its own products, and volunteers its products to recognized industry experts for security testing and certification to help identify possible issues. RIM is committed to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and to working with researchers to continue to protect our customers.

Re: Research In Motion’s new OS isn’t secure anymore thanks to a jailbreak
 

I guess saying the device has been hacked and actually proving it are two very different things. I will have to wait and see...I am sure RIM has known there are security issues with the Playbook hence why they keep making up stories why they keep pushing back the release date of OS 2.0 :)

A.

Re: Research In Motion’s new OS isn’t secure anymore thanks to a jailbreak
 

I am just a simple guy. Is it not one thing to hook up a PlayBook to your own computer and compromise your own pb, and quite another thing to get into someone's else's pb which is not hard-wired to you?
Does not much of RIM's legendary security derive from the fact that RIM products normally communicate through RIM’s own private encrypted servers, which was obviously was not done in this case where the pb was hooked up directly to the hacker’s own computer?

Re: Research In Motion’s new OS isn’t secure anymore thanks to a jailbreak
 

The issue, as I see it, is that it should not be possible to root into any BlackBerry device for security reasons. Therefore, because it has been shown as possible on the PlayBook at this point it doesn't look good for BBX. That's not to say that RIM won't close that particular hole (and I'm sure they will), but RIM's legacy is rock-solid security. Even if this turns out to be no big deal in the grand scheme of things, the perception is that there is a security risk with the PlayBook.

Re: Research In Motion’s new OS isn’t secure anymore thanks to a jailbreak
 

They closed it and someone reopened it again. RIM joins the cat and mouse game that MS has been dealing with for years.