BlackBerry introduces BBM service with extra security

BlackBerry has released a secure version of chat app BBM for businesses. BBM Protected is supposed to protect data because each message has its own encryption. Chatting is done from the regular app.

BBM Protected is only available to BlackBerry users with BES, BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The Canadian company does not want to be able to decrypt the data itself and asks users who want to chat via Protected to exchange a key in a way that BlackBerry cannot see, such as by text or regular telephone.

With that key, users can then set up a secure connection. BBM Protected uses the chat app’s regular security, which works through tls, and adds an extra layer of security based on various encryption and key exchange standards. The encryption is per message to make eavesdropping more difficult.

The paid service is currently only available for users of BlackBerry OS 6 and higher. Support for the apps on Android and iOS will follow later this year.

The additional security step in BBM is the first in an effort to persuade business users to use or continue to use BBM. Director John Chen made it clear immediately after taking office last fall that BlackBerry would focus strongly on the business market.