BlackBerry has bought mobile security firm Secusmart with an aim to secure voice and data. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
A German based company, Secusmart specializes in voice and data encryption. BlackBerry and Secusmart have been partners since 2009 and they have teamed up in the past to bring Secusmart’s technology to BlackBerry. SecuSUITE for BlackBerry 10 was selected last year by Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security for the government’s classified communications.
“We are always improving our security solutions to keep up with the growing complexity of enterprise mobility, with devices being used for more critical tasks and to store more critical information, and security attacks becoming more sophisticated. The acquisition of Secusmart underscores our focus on addressing growing security costs and threats ranging from individual privacy to national security. This acquisition bolsters our security solutions with leading voice and data encryption and anti-eavesdropping technologies, and furthers BlackBerry’s security leadership in end-to-end mobile solutions.”
said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry in an official release.
Secusmart’s technology is currently being used to protect the devices of government officials in both Canada and Germany, including the BlackBerry device used by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the wake of the U.S. spying scandal last year. The struggling smartphone maker launched BBM Protected for secure enterprise messaging last month.