BlackBerry has especially vaunted the supposed security merits of its Android-based DTEK50 announced last week. However, the observations of an experienced security researcher suggest that, as far as security goes, the smartphone is really just the best of a bad bunch in comparison to the iPhone line.
Writing for Seeking Alpha, an anonymous representative of KIA Investment Research claiming to have been a security researcher for the past 16 years has analyzed various facets of the DTEK50’s security. The report notes that, in featuring a hardware root of trust, a secure boot process and FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption, the DTEK50 matches the iPhone. But it lags elsewhere…
The writer points out, for example, that the BlackBerry handset’s preinstalled DTEK50 software, which monitors the phone for intrusion from outside sources, is “passive, which means it doesn’t block the operation, but rather lets you know the behavior is happening so that you can take steps to correct it.” The iPhone, on the other hand, has the more proactive feature of app permissions.
The report’s conclusion is thus: “I see no proof that BlackBerry’s new DTEK50 smartphone is more secure than an Apple iPhone, and in fact BlackBerry stopped short of saying so.”