While BlackBerry might not be the most popular smartphone platform in the game anymore, it still has a lot of fans who remain very concerned with privacy in the mobile world. The new BlackBerry Priv is the essence of that ideal, with a focus on security and privacy unmatched by any other Android device.
With the release of the Priv, BlackBerry have joined Google and Samsung in the pledge to release monthly security-related software updates to their operating systems. Today, BlackBerry has issued a press release giving some more detail as to what that and its new security policies will mean for users.
To start, the Priv is already more secure than open source Android (AOSP), and its secure Linux kernel patches a number of vulnerabilities not in the AOSP kernel. When critical Android bugs are discovered, BlackBerry can opt to perform a ‘hotfix’, where a small piece of buggy code is swapped out with the patched version.
Since the code changing with any fix is small, the testing and approval process in patching the bug will be shortened significantly. BlackBerry will be able to patch all Priv variants directly as well, so users won’t have to wait for the update to be approved.
In addition to monthly software updates and support for hotfixes, BlackBerry says that it also supports Secure Linux, has a more robust Linux kernel, has an eFuse to prevent kernel modifications and rooting, and has DTEK software to report on the status of one’s security.
All of these features combined will help to keep BlackBerry near the top of the pile in mobile security and privacy protection. If you want to find out more about BlackBerry’s security policies and the new BlackBerry Priv, you can read the full press release here.
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