President-elect did not explain how he would overcome legal and security concerns, however
Obama and tech
- FAQ: Why Obama may give up his BlackBerry while he's in the White House
- Ad hoc story of America emerges from Change.gov posts
- Web-savvy politicos: Obama's vision for e-government will take work
- 5 must-do cybersecurity steps for Obama
- Obama's choice for DHS could flame tech visa battle
- Opinion: Obama's BlackBerry is no security threat
- Obama administration to inherit tough cybersecurity challenges
- Thousands flock to site collecting ideas for Obama's CTO
 The Security ZoneWith the mobility of employees and the ease with which external devices can be brought in and out of a network, continuing to build your security plan for network servers and clients is a must. Fortunately, there is much that organizations can do to protect themselves from attacks - internal and external. Having the right policies, procedures and server configurations is critical... Learn more in The Security ZoneSee All Zones |
January 16, 2009 (Computerworld) President-elect Barack Obama told CNN today he planned to "hang onto" his beloved BlackBerry, but did not explain how he would overcome legal and security concerns.
The revelation came in an interview with CNN's John King in which Obama said, "I think we're going to be able to beat this back."
"I think we're going to be able to hang onto one of these. My working assumption, and this is not new, is that anything I write on an e-mail could end up being on CNN," Obama said.
"So I make sure to think before I press 'send'," he said.
Obama did not tell CNN how he would overcome the major hurdles to keeping his BlackBerry, including the requirement to keep a record of every White House communication.
The major concern about using a BlackBerry as president stems mostly from using it for outbound e-mail,several analysts have toldComputerworld.
But the president-elect, who will take office next week, said his favorite smartphone was an important tool for him to keep in touch.
"It's just one tool among a number of tools that I'm trying to use, to break out of the bubble, to make sure that people can still reach me," he told CNN.
"If I'm doing something stupid, somebody in Chicago can send me an e-mail and say, 'What are you doing?'
"I want to be able to have voices, other than the people who are immediately working for me, be able to reach out and send me a message about what's happening in America."
The security question was inadvertantly highlighted on Friday as Obama's BlackBerry tumbled from his belt as he exited his limousine and got onto his plane in Washington D.C., AFP reported.
The report said a Secret Service agent hurried to pick up the pieces, gathering the BlackBerry and its battery off the tarmac.
