BlackBerry’s Priv, the first Android device from the Canadian smartphone makers, will not allow rooting by its owners. Rooting is very popular among Android users as it allows them to exercise more control over their device and what they can do with it.
A challenge to hackers?
In a blog post, BlackBerry Security Director Alex Manea tried the explain what rooting actually is and why BlackBerry is not allowing it. Manea said that though he acknowledges why people want to root, he also pointed out areas it affects like system stability, system updates, warranty issues, and the most important issue of all: security.
“Rooting is a huge risk to the privacy and security of the platform; a rooted device makes you more susceptible to malware and many enterprises refuse to allow rooted devices on their networks,” the executive said.
BlackBerry’s decision may also be seen as a challenge to hackers. The Canadian firm may be encouraging hackers to take a go at the Priv. This will help the company learn any security breaches to make the platform more secure, says a report from Android Headlines. In the past, BlackBerry has stated that it intends to keep the Priv as secure as possible to prove that even with other operating systems, its can maintain its trademark security.
How BlackBerry prevents rooting
BlackBerry is going through the process of reinventing itself and wants to establish itself as a specialist security software company that makes handsets as well. For this reason, the Canadian firm has featured a technology called “BlackBerry Integrity Detection” in the Priv handset. Such software allows the device to check itself and reports if it has been compromised if it has been rooted.
BlackBerry does not allow the bootloader to unlock or the device to be rooted as these represents a significant security risk. The Integrity Detection system looks for disablement of security applications as well. It makes use of a trust anchor to create integrity reports that are digitally signed with EEC-256.
On Tuesday, BlackBerry shares closed down 2.26% at $6.91. Year to date, the stock is down by over 25%, while in the last year, it is down by almost 32%. The stock has a 52-week high of $11.45 and a 52-week low of $5.96.
