BlackBerry helps Britain’s rioters organize focus 08/12/2011

BlackBerry helps Britain’s rioters organize

focus

08/12/2011
LONDON — The rioters causing havoc on British streets have eschewed traditional social networking sites as a way of organizing, instead using the encrypted instant chat service on their BlackBerry handsets.

Although BlackBerrys are normally associated with white-collar workers keeping up with their emails, they are used by 37 percent of young adults and children in Britain, according to recent industry figures.

They are popular because the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service offers a free alternative to texting and can send messages to many people at once. It is also encrypted, unlike Twitter which was used by protesters in Iran and Egypt.

“If you use Blackberry Messenger it’s usually just you or your local group of contacts you’ve personally approved who can see your messages. That’s why they’ve been preferring to use it,” said Alastair Paterson, chief executive of cybersecurity firm Digital Shadows..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110812com3.html