RIM recently announced that the BlackBerry 7 smartphones have been bestowed with an official certification from the governments in the U.S. and Canada. In other words, BlackBerry devices running on the 7 and 7.1 platforms are the recipients of the FIPS 140-2 certification which is recognized by the concerned authorities in both the aforementioned countries.
Anyone, including government officials or corporate honchos looking for enhanced security to have confidential data protected on their mobile phones, can apparently turn to the BlackBerry smartphones. The devices which have received the validation include the BlackBerry Bold 9900, 9930 and 9790 as well as the Torch 9850, 9860 and 9810. The list is also inclusive of the BlackBerry Curve 9350, 9360, 9370 and 9380 smartphones.
“The FIPS 140-2 certification for BlackBerry 7.0 and 7.1 illustrates RIM’s continuing commitment to providing industry-leading, secure, mobile computing platforms for our customers,” states Scott Totzke, Senior Vice President, BlackBerry Security at RIM. “With all of the latest BlackBerry smartphones and the PlayBook tablet certified under the FIPS program, government and security-conscious customers can deploy our entire range of products with confidence.”
The FIPS 140-2 certification has been awarded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Communications Security Establishment Canada. The certificate is required under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002. It was in November last year that the BlackBerry 7 OS had been given the Common Criteria EAL4+ validation. Prior to this in July 2011, the BlackBerry PlayBook was awarded the FIPS 140-2 certification.
As mentioned earlier, the announcement from RIM confirms that the BlackBerry 7 smartphones have received the FIPS 140-2 certification, catering to potential users and professionals seeking security of the content on their handsets.