BlackBerry Is Taking Shots At Apple Over iMessage Spam

Earlier this week Wired reported on the rise of iMessage spam.

Whether or not it's actually a problem for iPhone users, rival BlackBerry is wasting no time reminding its users about the security of its messaging platform, BBM.

On their blog, BlackBerry gave five reasons consumers should prefer BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to iMessage:

1) BBM is architected in a way that protects our 85 million users against spammers. iMessage works off of phone number or Apple ID. Anyone who has your number or Apple ID can send you messages whether you want them to or not. With BBM, users have a lot more control due to our "invite and accept" paradigm. In other words, both parties need to be mutually committed to being contacts in order to send and receive messages.

2) BBM gives you control. There's no spam on BBM due to its self-policing system. Users are in control of their contact list and there is no way to send a message without being contacts. You can't control someone showing up to your house, but you don't have to open the door. With BBM someone can request to be added to your list, but you don't have to accept their invite.

3) BBM Protected ups the security ante. Privacy is the main issue with iMessage and spam. BBM protects your privacy by only allowing users to send messages to approved contacts. Our secure enterprise messaging service, BBM Protected, takes it a step further by adding an advanced layer of encryption. This ensures your messages aren't vulnerable to spying or hacking while being transmitted.

4) BBM empowers you to protect yourself from unsolicited messages. On the rare chance that you get spam or an unwanted ad, you only need to block the person from your contact list and refuse further attempts to reach you in the future.

5) BBM's anti-spam features work on any platform. BBM is structured so that each user has a unique PIN that's unique to him or her, regardless of what device is used. Here's the added bonus: BBM is a true multi-platform network that allows you to securely message users on BlackBerry, iOS, Windows Phone and Android. That's virtually 100% of all smartphones and tablets out there today. iMessage is only available on Apple products.

BBM is a more closed off network than iMessage, because it gives users the ability to block spammers, like you might on Twitter.

That said, the fact that iMessage is beginning to attract spammers speaks to the popularity of iOS and its foothold in the platform market.

Although, based on BlackBerry's position in the global smartphone market, they might want to go after Android users instead: