Angered by cooperation between Research in Motion and London police over riot-related BBM messages, hackers today defaced the official BlackBerry blog and insisted that RIM's actions will lead to the arrest of innocent people.
Hacker group TeaMp0isoN (Team Poison) took over a post about BlackBerry App World 3.0 and threatened to access and release data in RIM's employee database if the company helps police identify people who allegedly used BBM to coordinate riots in London as well as cities like Birmingham, Bristol, and Liverpool.
BBM allows for free texting between BlackBerry owners and cannot be readily accessed by law enforcement, so it is an easy way to coordinate undetected. According to a recent study from the U.K.'s Office of Communication (Ofcom), approximately 37 percent of U.K. teens have BlackBerrys, a preference that is driven primarily because of access to BBM.
In a Monday statement, RIM said it was cooperating with authorities on the matter.
"As in all markets around the world where BlackBerry is available, we cooperate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials," RIM said. "Similar to other technology providers in the U.K. we comply with The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and U.K. police forces."
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, or RIPA, is a law enacted in 2000 that allows for government interception of communications, particularly as it relates to the Internet and encrypted electronic communications.
"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," TriCk, a member of Team Poison, wrote on the blog.
TriCk said RIM "will regret it" if it hands over chat logs, GPS location, customer information, or access to peoples' BBMs. "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 police will be of no help, TriCk continued; "the police can't protect themselves, alone protect others."
Despite threatening to sick an angry mob on RIM employees, TriCk insisted that he and Team Poison "do not condone ... innocent people being attacked in these riots nor do we condone ... small businesses being looted." The group does, however, support rioters "engaging in attacks on the police and government."
"Before anyone says 'the blackberry employees are innocent' no they are not! They are the ones that would be assisting the police," he concluded.
By the afternoon, the Team Poison post had been removed.
In June, TriCk leaked personal information of former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, plus the phone numbers and addresses of dozens of members of the government who allegedly supported the war on Iraq.