RIM made the headlines again this week thanks to three little words: the Middle East.

In an interview with the BBC’s Rory Cellan-Jones, co-chief executive and founder Mike Lazaridis looked more than a little uncomfortable when asked to provide reassurance to users there that everything was OK.

Presumably feeling under attack, Lazardis terminated the interview, declaring that Cellan-Jones’ question was unfair.

Take a look at the exchange for yourself here.

I spoke to Scott Totzke, RIM’s global vice president of security earlier today and he seemed a little more relaxed.

He said the broad question of governments needing to manage communications is a reality everywhere and that RIM is often thrown into the spotlight because people make assumptions.

“One of the big misconceptions we see consistently with BlackBerry is all about proprietary technology. One of the tenets of security is openness,” he said. “We didn’t invent Java or JDS…”

He added: “I really think big a challenge [in the future] will be around apps and understanding the trade offs not so much with security but privacy elements. Informed consent on your BlackBerry. It’s a concern for users as general.”

“What is the app using that data for? We aim to provide our users with transparency. And [they] then choose whether to allow that app.”

Totzke and his team look at security across the entire RIM portfolio, from device to software to processes and everything in between. It’s from the ground up, according to Totzke, including focusing on small ideas that can start from a drawing on the back of a napkin.

“We are involved in every step and aspect including the manufacturing process and repair process. We have a very comprehensive view,” he said.

“Our philosophy is that security can’t be an afterthought. It’s something we have to fundamentally bake into all of our processes. History has shown that’s not ever an effective way to deal with a problem.”

RIM is a big company. It’s also successful. That makes it an easy target – for both speculation and attention from the bad guys.

Words almost fail me in justifying the kind of reaction Lazaridis displayed – it leaves users in the dark and wondering whether they have something to worry about.

For now, let’s just assume he was having a bad day. Most likely if he could have his time again, that interview would have turned out very differently. There’s probably some extra media training budget being looked at right now.

The interview is now out in the ether for all to see. The internet means it can’t unhappen. We all make mistakes. Though Totzke is hoping RIM’s mistakes won’t be security flavoured ones going forward.

When asked to detail one thing he’d like to happen over the next 12 months and one thing he’d rather avoid, his focus was clear.

He said he’d like to see the company building on its rich security heritage for both BlackBerry smartphones and the imminent BlackBerry PlayBook. But “not talking about security failures associated with either one of those products.”

Totzke said that “there’s always room for improvement” when it comes to security and that he’d like to see more “co-opetition” (co-operation with the competition) in the industry.

He added that RIM is always keen to hear what security researchers have to say so it can use that information to evolve its platforms. RIM “is not interested in litigation” according to Totzke. It’s a “responsible way for a vendor to engage,” he added, saying it’s important to “embrace research.”