DOD approves derived credentials on BlackBerrys

• By Mark Pomerleau
• Jul 28, 2015

The Department of Defense has recently approved derived public key infrastructure (PKI) credentials for BlackBerry devices running OS 7 and higher as well as BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2 and higher.   

This announcement lets BlackBerry users  access, manage and share information without using a Common Access Card. The CAC serves as an additional barrier and security measure for users to authenticate their identity to access information on the military’s network. 

A memo from then-acting DOD CIO Terry Halvorsen first provided interim guidance on PKI and personal identity verification in September 2014, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology issued guidelines for the use of derived credentials in December 2014.  A May 2015 update from Halvorsen's office provided additional details on the "technical and administrative processes" required  "[u]ntil the automated provisioning is available later in 2015."