
According to SecurityWeek, President Barack Obama recently admitted to a group of White House visitors that BlackBerry is the only device certified to be used in his post; the Secret Service doesn’t allow him to use Apple’s iPhone for security reasons. Obama said the following regarding the matter at an event promoting his health care initiative:
I'm not allowed for security reasons to have an iPhone.
It should be noted that before he assumed office in 2009, Obama was regarded as the most tech-savvy president to date. A large part of the description came from his adoption of mobile technology like BlackBerry, which he fought to keep against the wishes of the Secret Service. As highlighted in a Washington Post report from the month of September, presidents tend to quickly fall behind the times when it comes to modern technology. With computer technology moving at a rapid pace, proven government security measures cannot be installed fast enough to allow for the same flexibility afforded by the everyday consumer.
For those of you who didn’t already know, BlackBerry is known to have solid security and was the go-to device for the US government before the rise of the iPhone but with the proliferation of Apple’s handset and those running Google’s Android operating system, things have changed. Apple’s iOS 6 was granted FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 level 1 validation, allowing certain government agencies to adopt specialized devices running the software. The low-level cryptographic certification gives Apple a foot in the door for government contracts, like Department of Defense employees but still limits the iPhone and iPad use to security clearance levels well below assigned to the President.
Although it’s unlikely that President Obama will be able to use the iPhone during his remaining tenure, he has been seen carrying other Apple devices on occasion including the third-gen iPad and a 15-inch MacBook Pro.
Source: SecurityWeek, Washington Post via AppleInsider
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