Security issues on smartphones has prompted the German government to ask its ministers and senior civil servants to avoid using Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion(RIM)’s Blackberry smartphones, according to the “International Business Times” (http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/42139/20100810/iphone-blackberry-apple-rim-bsi-data-security-cyber-attacks-germany-government-simko-deutsche-teleco.htm).

The move follows a warning by one of the interior ministries of the German government over drastic increase in cyber attacks, the article adds. Based on the advice tagged as “urgent” from the BSI, Germany’s federal IT security agency, the interior ministry recommended the officials to use Simko devices provided by Deutsche Telekom in place of iPhone and Blackberry.