Wednesday, August 10, 2011

UK Riots: Hackers Attack Blackberry Over Police Help



By ROMMY IMAH (with Agency reports)

A hacker group has attacked Blackberry's website after the company said it would assist police investigating riots in the UK according to reports by the BBC.
The group known as Team Poison defaced the official Blackberry blog, posting a message that threatened the firm with retaliation if it handed user data to authorities.
Blackberry's instant messaging service is believed to have been used by some looters to plan their movements.
The firm has promised to co-operate with police and the Home Office.
Team Poison said in the statement that it did not condone innocent people or small businesses being attacked in the riots but added: “We are all for the rioters that are engaging in attacks on the police and government.”
The group argued that if Blackberry gave subscriber information to police, it could lead to the wrong people being targeted.
According to Team Poison, “Innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a Blackberry will get charged for no reason at all”. It threatened to release employee information, including names, addresses and phone numbers of Blackberry staff.
The BBC reports that UK laws mean police can request data from individuals’ mobile phones when that information relates to criminal activity.
The procedure is governed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.



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