Struggling
smartphone maker BlackBerry will help Boeing with its self-destructing “Black”
phone, designed for government agencies with a need for secrecy.
The
device has been in planning since 2012 and is thought to include biometric
scanners for security and a special tamper-proof case which will wipe all data
if anyone tries to open it and access the components inside.
It
will also encrypt all phone calls to prevent – ironically –the sort of digital
eavesdropping practiced by the same government agencies which will ultimately
be customers.
BlackBerry
has also created BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES 12) which will allow large
companies to keep devices from other manufacturers such as Apple or Samsung
secure, regardless of what operating system they use.
"We're
pleased to announce that Boeing is collaborating with BlackBerry to provide a
secure mobile solution for Android devices utilising our BES 12 platform,"
said BlackBerry chief executive John Chen in a conference call.
"That,
by the way, is all they allow me to say."
It
is not known what role Boeing will play in the creation of the phone, but it is
used to working on sensitive government contracts because of its history in
aviation.
It
was revealed last year that the President of the United States, Barack Obama, uses a BlackBerry and is banned from using
Apple's iPhone for "security reasons".
Because
the iPhone does not have the appropriate level of security clearance, the
President reportedly uses older BlackBerry models. In December 2012 he was
pictured using a BlackBerry Bold 9900.
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