Subject: [NEXTEL-1] WackBerry platform receives FIPS 140-2 security certification for government customers

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2003 00:15:57 -0400

WackBerry platform receives FIPS 140-2 security certification for government
customers

April 8, 2003 9:18am

WackBerry Continues To Lead The Industry With Wireless Solutions That

Meet Stringent Government Security
Standards

FOSE - WASHINGTON, D.C., April 8
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Research In Motion
(RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today
announced that the BlackBerry® platform has
now received Federal Information Processing
Standards (FIPS) approval for operation on all
wireless network standards supported by
BlackBerry(x) including Mobitex, DataTAC,
GSM/GPRS, Nextel and CDMA 1X. RIM's
cryptographic firmware embedded in the
Java-based series of BlackBerry Wireless
Handhelds™ has been awarded the FIPS
140-2 security validation by the U.S.
Government's National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST). FIPS validation is an
important and often mandatory purchasing
criteria for many government organizations.

RIM is showcasing BlackBerry this week in
booth No. 1913 at the FOSE conference in
Washington, DC. Mike Lazaridis, RIM's
President and Co-CEO, will provide the FOSE keynote address on Thursday morning.

"BlackBerry has already been deployed in hundreds of government organizations
and we continue to work
closely with leading agencies to address the evolving security requirements of
our government customers,"
said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. "The FIPS 140-2
validation will help
facilitate the continuing adoption of BlackBerry by a broader range of
government customers that wish to
realize the individual and organizational benefits of wireless connectivity."

Under the Information Technology Management Reform Act, the Secretary of
Commerce approves
standards and guidelines that are developed by NIST for U.S. Federal computer
systems. NIST collaborates
with national and international standards committees, users, industry groups,
consortia, and research and
trade organizations to get needed standards developed. These standards and
guidelines are issued by NIST
as FIPS for use government-wide. NIST develops FIPS when there are compelling
Federal government
requirements such as for security and privacy of sensitive information in
Federal computer systems.

FIPS 140-2 (Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules) provides the
security requirements that are
to be satisfied by a cryptographic module implemented within a security system.
The security requirements
covered include design, interfaces, authorized roles and services, physical
security, software security, key
management, cryptographic algorithms, and self-testing. The Computer Security
Division at NIST
coordinates the Cryptographic Module Validation (CMV) Program that encompasses
validation testing for
FIPS 140-2. The CMV Program was established by NIST in the United States and the
Communications
Security Establishment (CSE) of the Government of Canada. All of the tests under
the CMV Program are
handled by third-party, accredited laboratories.

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