Secure Computing warns of BlackBerry hack threat.

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Communications security company Secure Computing Corp (Nasdaq:SCUR) warned on Tuesday (8 August) that organizations that have installed their BlackBerry server behind their gateway security devices could be subject to a hacking attack.

Next week, security researcher Jesse D'Aguanno is scheduled to release the code for his BlackBerry hacking program, BBProxy. According to the company, BBProxy can be installed on a BlackBerry or sent as an e-mail attachment. Once installed, BBProxy opens a back channel bypassing the organization's gateway security mechanisms between the hacker and the inside of the victims' network. Since the communications channel between the BlackBerry server and handheld device is encrypted and cannot be inspected by typical security products, very often the administrator opens a tunnel to allow the encrypted communications channel to the BlackBerry server inside the organization's network. A malicious person could potentially use the back channel to remove confidential information undetected or to install malware on the network.

To reduce the threat, the vice president of Strategic Accounts for Secure Computing suggests isolating any Internet facing server like a BlackBerry server or the mail server that is working with the BlackBerry server on its own DMZ segment; permitting only the connections necessary to facilitate the operation of the BlackBerry; permitting only the connections necessary to facilitate the normal operation of the mail server; not permitting internal users to open arbitrary connections to either the BlackBerry server or mail server.

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