A website belonging to BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) has been hacked and defaced, apparently in response to RIM’s claim it would assist the police in identifying people involved in the rioting that has occurred throughout London over the last few nights.
It has been suggested that many young people involved in the disturbances have been using BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to communicate with each other and organise where to target next. The disturbances began on Saturday night in Tottenham after what began as a peaceful protest about the shooting of a local resident turned into a riot, with shops being looted and buses and cars set on fire.
The trouble spread from Tottenham to others parts of London and the rest of England throughout Sunday and Monday.
In a statement on its site RIM said: "We feel for those impacted by this weekend’s riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can. As in all markets around the world where BlackBerry is available, we cooperate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials. Similar to other technology providers in the UK we comply with The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and UK police forces."
In response to that, a hacker named TriCk – TeaMp0isoN access RIM’s blog.blackberry.com site and posted a message that was critical of the company.
"You will NOT assist the UK police because if u do innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all. The Police are looking to arrest as many people as possible to save themselves from embarrassment."
"If you do assist the police by giving them chat logs, gps locations, customer information & access to peoples BlackBerry Messengers you will regret it," the statement adds. "We have access to your database which includes your employees’ information; e.g – Addresses, Names, Phone Numbers etc – now if u assist the police, we _WILL_ make this information public and pass it onto rioters…. do you really want a bunch of angry youths on your employees doorsteps?"
The statement concluded by saying: "We do not condone in innocent people being attacked in these riots nor do we condone in small businesses being looted, but we are all for the rioters that are engaging in attacks on the police and government…. and before anyone says "the blackberry employees are innocent" no they are not! They are the ones that would be assisting the police."
As we went to press RIM had taken the site down.
