Crack the Code

New Delhi, July 11: The Centre has asked the national security adviser (NSA) to find a method to decode electronic mails sent through BlackBerry smartphones.

The NSA, along with the National Test Research Organisation (NTRO) under the home ministry and the department of telecom (DoT), are in discussions with BlackBerry to find a solution that will enable security agencies to intercept data passing through the Canadian firm’s network.

“The NTRO, under the supervision of the NSA, is interacting with BlackBerry. The telecom department is also engaged in the talks as any solution given by the NTRO or BlackBerry will have to be implemented by DoT,” an official said.

So far, the government has been insisting that BlackBerry should have a local server to host emails in India, but Research-In-Motion, the makers of the smartphones, have cited problems in setting up country-specific servers.

The government is also evaluating the impact of such a server on the company, which has a central facility in Canada.

“We are insisting on a (BlackBerry) server in India to address the security agencies’ concern. But technically and commercially, what the impact of that will be on BlackBerry has to be taken into consideration and it is being taken,” the official added.

The DoT had also asked RIM and mobile operators to create a mirror image of all email messages and data sent on BlackBerry in India and save them for a minimum period of six months to address the concerns of security agencies.

The government has already held a series of meetings with RIM. It has asked BlackBerry either to share the encryption keys or set up servers in India, but the company has maintained that it does not have a copy of the customer’s encryption key and would be unable to accommodate any such request.

RIM has maintained that it operates in 135 countries and uses a security architecture that has been scrutinised over the last nine years and has been accepted by security-conscious governments around the world.

The DoT had last week said the BlackBerry service was not a security threat.