Dubai: The tight and impenetrable security associated with BlackBerry communications could pose a potential threat to the national security of the states of the unstable Middle East, security experts say.
Security experts have welcomed the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority's (TRA) move to control communication on BlackBerry devices by subscribers in the country, which would make the communications easier to intercept.
India, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE have all expressed anxiety about the lack of control their governments have in intercepting BlackBerry communications, citing national security concerns.
In India, the perpetrators of the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks reportedly used BlackBerrys to communicate.
A source close to the Gulf's security apparatuses said that it was possible that those responsible for the Dubai assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh in January also used BlackBerrys to communicate.
"There was talk about it being a possibility, but it [hasn't been proven]," he said.
Dr Theodore Karasik, director of research and development at the Institute of Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (Inegma), said the security concerns of regional states warranted greater surveillance. "The security environment here can be quite dangerous," he said.
A move to control BlackBerry services, he said, could be aimed at intercepting communications of those sympathetic to regional armed groups, Somali piracy ransom-negiotiation groups which are believed to operate from the region, as well as a possible future confrontation with Iran.
Dr Mustafa Al Ani, director of security and terrorism studies at the Gulf Research Centre, said such moves were understandable because states with security concerns could not afford not to have a loophole in their security systems.
"I can definitely understand this. It is a major source of a potential headache," he said. "There have been suspected cases of [organised crime] using BlackBerrys to communicate. For me, that is enough to be alert.
Al Ani said that in cases where the communications of drug gangs and terrorist networks cannot be intercepted, it is often assumed that BlackBerrys are being used.
"When you lose the ability to monitor the communications of organised criminals or spies, you immediately [take precautions]," he said.
While most states trying to control BlackBerry services wish to do so because of the anonymity the services may provide to potential terrorists and drug gangs, states with strict assembly laws have used the security pretext to prevent mass mobilisation and unlawful assembly.
In April, Bahrain moved to suspend a "Breaking News" BlackBerry group that had 12,000 subscribers, becoming the first state to take legal action on users of BlackBerry Messenger.
France based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders has condemned the pursuit of BlackBerry Messenger users as a "government witch hunt".
Al Ani dismissed the idea that blocking of BlackBerry services has to do with a clampdown on illegal assembly, as has been suggested by advocacy groups. "They can do that over other services too. This issue is much bigger than that," he said.
