KOREAN HARDWARE MAKER Samsung reportedly is close to securing a deal to supply mobile phones to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), bad news for rival Blackberry.
At present, Blackberry holds the primary mobile phone contract with the FBI, providing most of its 35,000+ its employees with secure handsets for work.
That's about to change however, according to Reuters, which reported that Samsung is likely to steal this deal away from Blackberry, with the phone maker close to inking a deal with the FBI. Once a deal is completed it will see FBI staff, probably quite willingly, switching their Blackberry handsets for Samsung Galaxy devices.
If true, this won't come as much of a surprise, as earlier this year Samsung Galaxy devices as well as iPhones won Pentagon security approval, which means that these handsets can be used by the US government.
Samsung said it would not comment on today's speculation, but Blackberry was keen to pipe up, saying that it still believes its Blackberry operating system is the most secure on the market.
A Blackberry spokesperson told The INQUIRER, "We have been honored to serve the FBI for many years without a single security breach. BlackBerry understands that our customers, more than ever, must ensure the security of their mobile communications from malicious activity.
"We also understand that untested and unproven mobile solutions can be risky and potentially pose threats to enterprise or national security. That is why we have taken BlackBerry security to a new level with BlackBerry 10 for enterprise.
"We cannot comment on unannounced decisions of others, but remain committed to ensuring our US and other customers have the world's most secure mobile solutions."
A spokeswoman for the FBI declined to comment
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