Is our security at risk when government agencies ditch BlackBerrys for iPhones?
An ATF spokesman stated that the decision for the move was primarily focused on functionality as they are looking for easier handling of video streaming, GPS navigation, camera usage, and more. I am not a security expert and do not work in the IT department, but my first concern for government agencies is security since they handle sensitive personal information in many departments and need to make sure devices can be managed and wiped with ease and reliability. The U.S. Air Force recently killed an iPad deployment plan due to security concerns.
I would have kept my Bold 9930 if my work had a BES, but without it I wasn't seeing the benefit of a RIM backend. The BB OS 7 devices are very solid smartphones and with new technologies such as BlackBerry Balance, RIM is working hard to satisfy the consumer and enterprise/government customer. Government agencies have spent millions on their RIM servers and I am not convinced they can get the same level of control and security on iPhone or Android smartphones. Do you think these agencies are making the right move or should they stick with BlackBerry smartphones?