Compensation Discussed for Blackberry Users

Consumer talk has turned to compensation following the Global Blackberry Blackout, but Research In Motion (RIM) have yet to comment on the speculation.

Blackberry's founder Mike Lazaridis has said services are "fully restored" following a three-day global blackout, but with millions of users affected and many turning to twitter to express their anger, is their any way back?

This is the largest crash the firm has ever experienced. Prior to the 2011 problems, the last significant blackout was in 2009.  With no answers as to why the switch failed or why the back up failed to kick in, the next priority is a "root cause analysis" of why there was a core switch failure within RIM's infrastructure.  Although, the server problems are believed to have originated at RIM's UK data centre in Slough.

When questioned on compensation for consumers following three days of disruption, Research In Motion declined to comment.  However, some operators, such as Telefonica owner of the UK's O2, are mulling whether to provide compensation for affected users.

Unsurprisingly, many corporate clients have switched to Apple iPhone after they made a concerted effort to improve its support for secure business email systems. News that couldn’t come at a worst time for RIM, who have been losing market share to Apple over the last few months.  That said; Apple’s newly-released operating system, iOS 5, has been causing problems for some users trying to download it this week!

So after a week of problems for smartphone users worldwide, it seems that all new technology comes with niggles, and unforeseen difficulties – we can either embrace new technology and understand this or stick with the tried and tested “brick” of a model that simply does the basics! 

Problems will always occur, but the test of the supplier is how they recover from them.  For the sake of competition, let’s hope RIM bounces back!

Find out more about Smartphone Security 

Is Your smartphone Ready for the Criminals?

Just like any computer, smartphones are vulnerable to hackers and their malicious code.  With the rise of mobile viruses, are you or your operators taking them seriously enough?

If you are in business or not, the chances are that you spend a large part of your day using a computer.  Therefore, you are probably aware of constant threat that looms in the form computer viruses, and we would hope that you take precautions to protect yourself against them.   

Are you aware though, that the threat of viruses and the ability of someone to worm their way into the centre of your life has taken on a new form?

Last year alone, according to IDC, approximately 302 million smartphones were shipped globally with sales up 67.6 % from 2009.  In an article published earlier this month, Gartner Inc. estimated that in 2011 approximately 468 million smartphones will be sold worldwide.  

Smartphones are becoming more and more popular, and as a result there is growing threat of mobile viruses, spam and smartphone theft.  Despite this, 86% of mobile phone users do not have any security software installed. 

If you use your smartphone for personal and business use, you are doubly at risk of criminal attacks.  If you keep personally identifiable data on your mobile phone, such as email addresses, contact lists, personal dates etc, imagine what you could make available to criminals if you do not protect yourself.  

The threat is real, and it’s now, call us to find out how to protect your smartphone.