BlackBerry 7 OS Gets Approved For UK Government Use

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) on Thursday announced that CESG, the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance in the UK, has given the BlackBerry 7 operating system its stamp of approval for government use, providing public sector workers the option to utilize several late model BlackBerry smartphones.

According to RIM, its BlackBerry Enterprise Solution is currently the only mobile solution approved by CESG to protect material classified up to and including ‘Restricted’.

In an announcement, RIM noted that many public sector bodies in the UK including the Ministry of Defence (MoD), most of Central Government, and more than half of the UK’s police forces, NHS and local government organizations are using BlackBerry smartphones in the field.

“We’re pleased to see CESG taking such positive steps to help ensure UK government workers have access to the latest suite of BlackBerry 7 smartphones,” said Stephen Bates, Managing Director for RIM in the UK.

BlackBerry devices currently covered by the new approval include the BlackBerry Bold 9900, Bold 9790, Torch 9810, Torch 9860, Curve 9360 and Curve 9380.

In February of this year, BlackBerry mobile devices running BlackBerry 7 and BlackBerry 7.1 Operating Systems were awarded FIPS 140-2 certification, a standard recognized by the U.S. and Canadian governments and something required under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA).

Earlier this month, the U.S Department of Defense gave department-wide approval for the use of several of the newer BlackBerry 7 smartphones on its networks.