RIM has earned the FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) certification for their upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system. This means that government agencies in the US will be able to use BlackBerry 10 hardware as soon as it becomes available early next year.The FIPS 140-2 publication is a security standard used to certify cryptographic modules used in computer equipment. It is administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the US and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) in Canada. With this accreditation, these devices will not be used by US, Canada or other government agencies who may rely on this standard.
The standard undergoes a certain level of testing to ensure the cryptographic models, and the underlying algorithms are validated against attempts to exploit weaknesses in the design or in the coding.
This certification also ensures that the data stored on these devices will be secure and encrypted. With several agencies choosing alternate platforms over RIM’s BlackBerry offering, the company needs to show that its devices and platform can offer modern usability while retaining the level of security people have come to expect from BlackBerry devices.
The BlackBerry 10 platform has proven that it can be take on modern smartphone platforms and now it has the added benefit of the FIPS certification. Now it is up to RIM to work closely with developers to ensure that the latest applications are ported over to BB10 to push the platform as a serious contender against iOS and Android.
source – Research in Motion