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RIM investigating BlackBerry root, assures customers of safety

RIM investigating BlackBerry root, assures customers of safety

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RIM has issued an official statement regarding the news that developers have achieved root on the BlackBerry Playbook. The company states that it'll investigate the rooting tool (dubbed DingleBerry), if and when it's released.

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RIM is taking the BlackBerry Playbook root claims seriously. In a statement, the company said that it'll investigate the rooting tool (dubbed DingleBerry) if and when it's released — which sounds an awful lot like the company might try to block it in future updates. The Waterloo-based company added that it has been in contact with one of the "security researchers" and that none of the security holes have been exploited to harm a user's system yet. See the full statement below for more.

Research In Motion (RIM) is aware of a claim made on Twitter by security researchers working together that suggests the ability to "jailbreak" a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The term "jailbreaking" is commonly used to describe altering the software on a smartphone or tablet in order to obtain access to systems or applications not officially authorized or distributed by the manufacturer. BlackBerry smartphone users are not affected. RIM is currently investigating this claim and has been in contact with one of the security researchers to discuss it.

RIM is currently not aware of a jailbreak being leveraged by anyone other than the researchers, who claim to have performed a jailbreak on their own BlackBerry PlayBook tablets only. If it is determined that the claim is accurate, RIM will follow its standard response process to develop and release a software update that is designed to minimize adverse impact to our customers or carrier partners. RIM is aware that the security researchers have stated they intend to release a tool to jailbreak the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. If such a tool is released, RIM will investigate it.

The security of mobile devices and major networked systems is tested by third-party security researchers every day. RIM also continually tests the security of its own products, and volunteers its products to recognized industry experts for security testing and certification to help identify possible issues. RIM is committed to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and to working with researchers to continue to protect our customers.