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Hackers attack BlackBerry blog, threaten employees, after RIM agrees to help London police

Andrew Couts
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Rioting in London

Hacker group “TeaMp0isoN” infiltrated the corporate-run Inside BlackBerry blog after Research In Motion publicly agreed to help London law-enforcement authorities track down the people who helped orchestrate the devastating riots that have engulfed parts of London and its surrounding areas for the past three days, reports The Next Web. The hackers also threatened the safety of BlackBerry employees, saying they would turn over stolen personal data to rioters if the company cooperated with police.

In place of the normal blog, which has since been taken offline, TeaMp0isoN posted a statement to RIM, which said that their cooperation with authorities will lead to innocent BlackBerry Messenger users being “charged for no reason at all, [as] the Police are looking to arrest as many people as possible to save themselves from embarrassment.”

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The group also said it had access to personal data about RIM employees located in the UK, and warned that it would release this information to the rioters if the company complied with police demands.

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The message, in full, reads:

Dear RIM,

You Will _NOT_ assist the UK Police because if u do innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all, the Police are looking to arrest as many people as possible to save themselves from embarrassment…. if you do assist the police by giving them chat logs, gps locations, customer information & access to peoples BlackBerryMessengers you will regret it, we have access to your database which includes your employees information; e.g – Addresses, Names, Phone Numbers etc. – now if u assist the police, we _WILL_ make this information public and pass it onto rioters…. do you really want a bunch of angry youths on your employees doorsteps? Think about it…. and don’t think that the police will protect your employees, the police can’t protect themselves let alone protect others….. if you make the wrong choice your database will be made public, save yourself the embarrassment and make the right choice. don’t be a puppet..

p.s – we do not condone in innocent people being attacked in these riots nor do we condone in small businesses being looted, but we are all for the rioters that are engaging in attacks on the police and government…. and before anyone says “the blackberry employees are innocent” no they are not! They are the ones that would be assisting the police.

Following the breach of the blog, TeaMp0isoN posted to the group’s Twitter feed, saying repeatedly that they “do not condone” volence towards innocent civilians, “only towards police.”

Yesterday, reports revealed that rioters used BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to plan the angry demonstrations, which were initially sparked by the controversial police shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, who was an accused drug dealer. Unlike social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, which can be easily monitored by police, BBM is more private, and only works between BlackBerry devices.

After discovering the role its messaging service played in facilitating the riots, RIM told Scotland Yard it would cooperate with its investigation to track down and arrest protesters who posted “inflammatory” messages. Some fear that this means RIM will hand over the identities of BBM users.

According to a report on the matter by the Guardian, RIM can be legally ordered to hand over user data to police, but the Canada-based company says it cannot unscramble the encrypted messages that are sent over BBM, making it nearly impossible to identify the sender.

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Andrew Couts
Andrew Couts
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
10 reasons why BlackBerry 10 just might save RIM from oblivion
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We’ve been waiting a long time for BlackBerry 10 and it’s widely perceived as the last roll of the dice for RIM. The BlackBerry brand has fallen behind the competition as iOS and Android have carved up the smartphone market between them. When we last pointed out that BlackBerry wasn’t dead yet, in the summer, the share price was languishing below $8 and it has been steadily climbing since then, almost hitting $15 as the new platform comes into sight on the horizon.
Thorsten Heins replaced co-CEOs Balsillie and Lazaridis almost exactly a year ago and he decided that the new platform would not be rushed. Despite the pressure on the company, he recognized that another poor update would make things worse. At BlackBerry World last May he said “I want this BlackBerry 10 to be perfect.”
It’s worth remembering that RIM has actually been adding subscribers in the last few months. Market share has dwindled, but the smartphone market has been growing fast enough to mask that. It was only last quarter that RIM lost subscribers for the first time, down from 80 to 79 million. The company has laid off thousands, restructured, and amassed a $2.9 billion war chest to launch the new platform. There can be no doubt that BlackBerry 10 has to succeed if RIM’s future is to be healthy, but we’ve heard enough doomsaying. Here are a few reasons why BB 10 might just surprise everyone and put RIM back in the game.
Securing the enterprise
For Fortune 500 companies and government agencies across the world BlackBerry has always been the platform of choice. RIM forgot its base with BlackBerry 7 as ill-advised and rushed attempts to court the mass market damaged the brand. The company will not make the same mistake again. The BlackBerry platform still has a solid reputation in the business world for a high level of security and reliability. BlackBerry Enterprise Server, BES, is a powerful tool for IT departments. 
RIM just reported that 1,600 companies have already signed up for BlackBerry 10 training. Prospects for BB 10 in the enterprise are bright and its biggest rivals, Android and iOS, are consumer-focused first, with businesses clocking a distant second. Windows Phone 8 could be BB 10’s only real competition in this space.
Dividing work and play
Thinking about the enterprise goes beyond secure email and enterprise apps. RIM has also included a separation between Personal and Work modes so users can switch between them at a touch. Personal mode allows you to install whatever apps or games you want and deal with personal email in an encrypted partition. Work mode is a separate partition that can be locked down by your employer. It’s a clever solution to the company subsidized smartphone and the BYOD trend. Your employer can exert some control over the Work side of your device while your Personal partition is beyond their control.
Standing out from the crowd
We’ve seen plenty of predictions about Microsoft finally hitting its stride in mobile with Windows Phone 8 and one reason you’ll see frequently being cited is that it’s different from the present incumbents, Android and iOS. That’s one of the best things about BlackBerry 10 – it’s a genuine alternative, not a weak copy. It will look familiar to Android, iOS, or WP8 users, but feel very different to use. The integration of gestures, the speed, the active frames, the general flow between apps and services; it all appears to be well-thought out and intuitive to use. It’s also important to note that BB 10 isn't missing any major feature that’s standard on Android or iOS. 
If people are bored or frustrated by Android or iOS then BB 10 could easily catch their attention as a viable alternative.
Attracting developers
RIM understands the importance of attracting developers to the platform and establishing a decent pool of apps for new BB 10 customers. There’s no way the platform is going to catch up with iOS and Android at the 700,000 plus mark, but who needs 700,000 apps? As long as the big apps are all present and correct and there’s a decent choice in BlackBerry App World customers will be happy.

At the weekend RIM was able to attract 15,000 app submissions by offering $100 for every ported app which is accepted and offered for sale in the BB 10 app store. Other incentives include the chance to win BB 10 development handsets and trips to developer conferences. RIM also set aside $10 million to offer developers with apps that exceed 100 downloads and earn at least $1,000 a guaranteed top up to $10,000. The aim is to launch with 70,000 apps and that would be unprecedented for a new platform.
A loyal fan base
Can RIM persuade the 79 million subscribers it has right now to upgrade to BB 10? Even a percentage of those customers upgrading would give the new platform a great start. Then you have to consider all the BlackBerry fans who switched to iOS and Android in the last few years. Some of them won’t be coming back, but not everyone is enamored with the market leaders. The BlackBerry name still has a lot of goodwill and if RIM can present a decent proposition with BB 10, it will tempt some customers back.
The Hub: a universal inbox
Forget about dipping in and out of multiple apps. The BlackBerry Hub is a truly universal inbox. It can suck in multiple email accounts, call history, BBM, text messages, popular third-party apps like Whats App, as well as social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. With built-in calendar functions, this is your one-stop shop for new information and it could be a real time-saver. If you fear information overload don’t worry because it’s easy to filter for the accounts you want to check.
Multitasking
Part of the reason that BB 10 flows so well is the focus on multitasking. Dropping in and out of apps to deal with notifications is a pain point for smartphone users. With BB 10, you can swipe to take a peek at your inbox without leaving the current app. If you swipe left to right you’ll see the other apps that are running in the background and you can switch quickly. Even the home screen focuses on recently used apps and you can have up to nine applications active simultaneously.
That trademark physical keyboard
There’s no doubt that touchscreens are here to stay, but some people will always prefer a physical keyboard on their smartphone and RIM make the best in the business. The quality and feel of the BlackBerry keyboard is unmatched and that will attract a niche audience to choose BB 10. The platform is said to launch with a full touchscreen phone and another touch phone with a QWERTY.
It’s also worth pointing out that RIM has worked on the touchscreen keyboard in BB 10 so it is well-spaced, accurate, offers decent predictive text, and even simultaneous multi-language support. It's already one of our favorite touch keyboards.
BBM
BlackBerry Messenger was once a killer feature for the platform and it could be set to take center stage in BB 10. The real-time chat client is going to expand on instant messaging to include voice calls over Wi-Fi. RIM has also worked on BBM Connected which is about integrating other apps like Facebook. If the rumored video chat and screen sharing functionality is thrown into the mix then BBM could be a killer feature again.
Embracing the new
There are a couple of features that signal RIM’s willingness to embrace new trends. The most notable is perhaps the camera app and something the company is calling “Timeshift.” When you take a photo you can rewind or fast forward via a dial to pick the best facial expression and a slider lets you pick the best pose to create a composite image that’s just the one you want. If it works well then it could be a great feature.

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BB 10 buzz: RIM says 1600 companies have signed up for its BlackBerry 10 training program
holster wearers rejoice blackberry 10 is actually pretty awesome main

In an effort to increase the buzz surrounding the imminent launch of its next-generation BlackBerry 10 handsets and mobile operating system, Research In Motion has in recent months been feeding the media with various updates about the new platform.
The marketing drive continued Wednesday with Bryan Lee – RIM’s senior enterprise accounts director – announcing that 1600 businesses in North America have signed up for the company’s recently launched BlackBerry 10 Ready Program, with over a 1000 already using it.
The training program is designed to familiarize BB10 users with the new OS and help them “discover tools, resources and special offers” so they’ll be all set when the first handsets hit the market some time next month.
Lee told Reuters he was “very enthused by the engagement and response of our customer base.” Although he declined to reveal the names of any of the companies who had signed up, Lee told Bloomberg that among them were “Fortune 500 companies, law firms, schools, universities, retailers and government agencies.” If the majority of businesses that have so far signed up fall into these categories, then it surely augurs well for the mobile maker.
RIM, once the darling of the business community with its range of BlackBerry devices, has seen a sharp decline in its North American customer base in recent years, with customers turning to competing offerings such as the iPhone and Android-powered handsets. With so many firms and government agencies dumping the BlackBerry in recent months in favor of rival handsets, last year wasn't only grim for RIM, it was downright catastrophic. BB10 is RIM’s last throw of the dice – it has to win back these contracts. or at least make some lucrative new ones, in order to survive.
“Don’t underestimate the dynamic this platform is going to create in the market,” RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said in an interview in October. The man tasked with turning around the fortunes of RIM carries a heavy weight on his shoulders, for sure. Will he, and RIM, be able to deliver?
We managed to get our hands on a near-final build of BB10 at CES last week and, while not perfect (we did say “near” final, after all), we were pretty impressed with what we saw.
RIM will unveil BB10 at a special event set to take place simultaneously in several countries on January 30.

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Video provides a glimpse of BlackBerry 10 running on a BlackBerry Z10 smartphone

Not everyone has to wait until the end of the month to see BlackBerry 10 in action, as Austrian tech blog Telekom-Presse has posted an extensive video test of Research in Motion’s new operating system in use on the BlackBerry Z10. The site notes the hardware is a pre-production prototype and it’s a beta version of the software.
The Z10 has been leaked several times already, but it’s good to get further confirmation of the device’s specifications. The prototype seen in the video has a 4.2-inch touchscreen with a 1280 x 768 pixel resolution, while inside is a 1.5GHz processor with an impressive 2GB of RAM. An 8-megapixel primary camera sits in the corner of the rear panel, and there is a 1.9-megapixel video call lens above the screen. Finally, a microSD card slot lets you add to the standard 16GB of storage memory.
If you watch the video below, you’ll get to see the BlackBerry 10 interface in action again, along with some of the very cool transitions between screens - just take a look at the fade as the lock screen is swiped away. However, unless you speak German, the commentary won’t be all that helpful. By using Google Translate on the accompanying written piece, it’s clear the author is impressed with BlackBerry 10, calling it, “Smooth,” and the camera, “Excellent.”
We had a chance to play with BlackBerry 10 again during CES 2013, and also found the experience vastly improved over previous versions. There’s just over two weeks to go until BlackBerry 10 is launched, and according to recent rumors not only is the application store filling up at a surprisingly fast rate, but the new hardware could be on sale in some places by the end of February.

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