Smartphone maker BlackBerry, which enjoys a particularly strong niche in the enterprise due to its security claims, has defended itself against allegations that its security was penetrated by the spies at GCHQ.
According to the Guardian, GCHQ set-up an elaborate spying operation during the G20 meetings in 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis. Documents published by the Guardian indicate that GCHQ was able to crack and intercept calls and messages sent by attendees using their BlackBerry smartphones.
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One excerpt from the documents published by the Guardian is entitled "BlackBerry at G20" and reads: "Delivered messages to analysts during the G20 in near real-time."
But in a statement, the Canada-based company said: "We remain confident in the superiority of BlackBerry's mobile security platform for customers using our integrated device and enterprise server technology."
It added: "There is no 'back door' pipeline to that platform."
BlackBerry is used in the enterprise and among lawyers, bankers and senior officials because it is widely regarded as the most secure mobile platform, via its network of dedicated servers. In addition, being based in Canada rather than the US means that it is beyond the legal reach of the US government's increasingly voracious information gathering machinery.
The UK government, meanwhile, remained tight-lipped over the embarrassing revelations.
"We never comment on security or intelligence issues and I am not about to start now," said prime minister David Cameron at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland.
Attendees, however, will no doubt be more careful about how they use their mobile devices to discuss and consider their positions at the talks.
However, a number of publications have been served with "D-Notices" – official government orders to stop reporting – over the rising tide of surveillance claims, with such reports conspicuous by their absence from today's Guardian.
