RIM

Last week, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion distanced itself from the Carrier IQ controversy saying:

Surveillance companies can use your iPhone to take photos of you and your surroundings without your knowledge, said a representative from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism at a panel chaired by Julian Assange™ today.

Companies also sell products that will let them change the messages you write, track your location and nick your email contacts, claimed speakers on the panel that included representatives from Privacy International and the aforementioned bureau.

After struggling to gain an edge over its competitors with its BlackBerry smartphones and tablets, Research in Motion has conceded some ground to Apple and Google with the announcement of Mobile Fusion, upcoming security software for the iPhone and Android.

Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM said on Tuesday that the device management software should arrive in the late March. Though the company declined to provide a price for the application, RIM vice-president for enterprise product management did say that it will be "competitive" with rival offerings.

This latest security advisory goes to show why RIM’s current model for carrier approved OS updates is not ideal. RIM put out what they call a security notice about a BlackBerry 6 WebKit browser vulnerability back in March of this year for an exploit found in the BlackBerry 6 Browser at Pwn2Own that month. RIM said back then that devices updated to OS 6.0.0.526+ were safe from the vulnerability. They then finally issued a security advisory this week for the same old vulnerability with quite a few more details about it.

It’s no secret Research In Motion has lost its once-dominant position in the smartphone world. Despite slight increases in sales, BlackBerry market share has plummeted in percentage terms compared to the surging iPhone and Android, falling from 18.7 percent to 11.7 percent in the second quarter. After a recent outage left RIM’s back-end systems inconsistent and unresponsive for parts of four days, we argued that RIM is destined for an eventual demise, hastened by the consumerization of IT.

BBX, the operating system that Research In Motion is counting on to revive its floundering BlackBerry franchise, has run into trouble even before the company could install the system in its smartphone line.

A New Mexico firm claims the "BBX" name is protected by trademarks it holds and is threatening to take legal action against RIM unless it stops using the moniker.

After a worldwide outage left many BlackBerry customers without e-mail, IM, and Web browsing from Monday to Thursday last week, Research in Motion today unveiled its peace offering to customers: $100 worth of free apps to subscribers and one month of free technical support for enterprise customers. While the free software and services are nice gestures, the outage, which RIM acknowledged was the worst in its history, seems symbolic of the company’s slow downfall.

The BlackBerry OS is known for the many security safeguards it affords individual users and organizations, the most basic--and most important--of which is probably the device password. In fact, I've written countless mobile device security tips and tricks posts, and "Enable a password" is almost always atop my list of suggestions.

After a disastrous first few months, Research In Motion's PlayBook tablet will get a price cut.

During the company's second-quarter earnings call today, RIM Co-Chief Executive Mike Lazaridis said the company would start up several programs to drive PlayBook sales, including an incentive program for businesses, as well as rebates and deals for existing BlackBerry customers. Lazaridis didn't spell out how much of a discount the company would be offering.

There are remotely and easily exploitable vulnerabilities in the BlackBerry Enterprise Server that could allow an attacker to gain access to the server by simply sending a malicious image file to a user's BlackBerry device.