BlackBerry secured by PGP

Research In Motion said it has inked a deal to make PGP-branded e-mail security software an option for its BlackBerry e-mail devices. The support package includes e-mail encryption, decryption, digital-signature and verification services. RIM's BlackBerry devices and messaging service allow wireless always-on access to e-mail and corporate data on portable devices. With the PGP option installed, users can authenticate themselves with a password before decrypting or signing e-mail. Outgoing messages are automatically protected by a user's systems administrator.

The PGP option is expected to be available later this year. Licenses will be available exclusively from Palo Alto, Calif.-based PGP and its 175 authorized resellers. BlackBerry devices natively support two transport encryption options--AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and Triple DES (Data Encryption Standard) encryption--for all data transmitted between the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and the BlackBerry device. RIM hardware is also certified to work with a company's S/MIME (Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) software.