Two totally unrelated pieces of news … if you’re on AT&T/Cingular and Blackberry services – the BBOutage mailing list is confirming that there is a nationwide outage. We’ll update as we hear more.

Update: Looks like services are slowly coming back online

AT&T is notifying customers:

Valued Customer,

This e-mail is to inform you of a network problem that MAY affect your Mobile Data Service.

Trouble Ticket Number: N/A

Severity: High

Description of Issue: Recieving calls from Customers unable to connect to GPRS or EDGE with Blackberry devices

Location of Issue:  All Regions/ All Markets

Start Time: 9/25/2007 5:25 AM PDT

Symptoms you MAY experience: Blackberry users may be unable to send or receive messages or may have difficulty connecting to the RIM network

Estimated time of repair: Unknown

Technicians are working towards resolution as quickly as possible. We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause. Thank you for your patience as we work towards resolving this issue. If you have any questions, please contact Enterprise Technical Support at 888-334-3787+PIN for more information.

Wireless from AT&T, formerly Cingular ? CONFIDENTIAL & PROPRIETARY Use pursuant to Company instructions

Second – See this perfectly timed certification for how secure their network is.

Dammed right its secure. Nobody can get on it!

ROME, ITALY–(Marketwire – Sept. 25, 2007) – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced that its BlackBerry(R) Enterprise Server and BlackBerry(R) device software have been awarded Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 2 augmented (EAL 2+) validations. The certifications were awarded at the 8th International Common Criteria Conference in Rome and acknowledge the robust security features of the BlackBerry(R) Enterprise Solution.
“RIM is a pioneer and longstanding advocate of wireless security and we are extremely pleased to report that our BlackBerry software has become the first mobile platform to receive the Common Criteria certification” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at RIM. “This certification, along with numerous other security accreditations from around the world, further illustrates why so many security conscious organizations and governments have chosen the BlackBerry solution.”
The Common Criteria is an international standard for validating that IT products meet specific security requirements. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry device software have been independently evaluated by a third-party Common Criteria evaluation facility and meet the security criteria for EAL 2+. This evaluation assurance level is accepted under the Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA) by 25 countries.

Related posts:

1. BlackBerry Outage Rebates and a Windows Mobile Blackberry
2. RIM Introduces the BlackBerry Mobile Voice System and Visual Studio Tools
3. Massive System Failure Affecting Blackberry Users — via WNBC in New York
4. Cingular BlackBerry 8800 unboxed
5. Rumour: BlackBerry Pearl 8100c & Samsung SGH-i607 coming to Cingular