BlackBerry Security Summit: Recap

The BlackBerry Security Summit convened in late July was attended by business leaders and experts in the mobile enterprise security industry.

The Summit was held at The Museum of Arts and Design in Midtown Manhattan. It attracted around 100 news reporters. In addition to showcasing new technological innovations, BlackBerry used the summit to provide a forum for discussing cybersecurity problems and trends. During the summit, BlackBerry executives and experts from other mobile security enterprises shared their views on how enterprises, government agencies, and regulated organizations can secure their digital assets.

Crisis Proportions

During the summit BlackBerry CEO John Chen said that their enterprise solutions are aimed at government agencies, healthcare organizations, financial services, and energy companies. He also said that the security threat that enterprises now experience has reached crisis proportions.

Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting mobile devices. There were several incidences of security breaches at some major retailers in the recent past.

Digital security breaches can result in major financial damages. Ponemon Institute estimates that the average cost of a security breach increased by around 15% during the last year.

Heightened Awareness

While all speakers called for urgent measures to combat the crisis, they reiterated the fact that the situation is not beyond control. In fact, they notified that the new breed of productivity and risk mitigation solutions from BlackBerry can counter the increased security threat.

Cybersecurity is now a major concern among corporate leaders. Several high profile businesses now search for chief information security officers (CISO). This is a clear sign that businesses now regard cyber security as an enterprise issue and not an IT one.

BlackBerry has always focused on helping businesses fend off security threats that ruin their reputation. Their tools allow organizations to benefit from workforce mobilization.

John Sims who is the President of Global Enterprises Services said that BlackBerry’s approach to security that includes the device, server elements and secure infrastructure has no parallels in the industry.

Secusmart Transaction

At the summit BlackBerry also announced that it has acquired Secusmart which is an industry leader in voice and data encryption solutions for enterprises, government organizations, and telecommunications companies in Germany and other parts of the world.

Blackberry has an existing partnership with Secusmart and through this partnership they have already offered BlackBerry phones equipped with Secusmart technology to a number of government agencies in Germany. Even German chancellor Angela Merkel was given one. This acquisition adds encrypted voice capabilities to BlackBerry’s enterprise mobility security solutions.

BlackBerry Guardian

BlackBerry also introduced a new feature called BlackBerry Guardian at the summit. This new feature ensures that all Android apps downloaded on to your BlackBerry 10 device are free of malware. BlackBerry Guardian combines both manual and automated analysis with Trend Micro’s Mobile App Reputation Service. This will allow the software to scan mobile apps for viruses or malware. Starting with the launch of BlackBerry Passport, BB Guardian will check all Android applications that users install on their BB smartphones.

BES 12

At the summit, BlackBerry also shared details about the capabilities of BES12. BES12 is expected to be available in November. It is the successor to BES10. BES12 will support a range of end points in addition to smart devices. It will allow IT administrators to control what is going on in different parts of their network.

Enterprises need more security. However, they require a partner with exceptional and proven expertise to meet those goals. BlackBerry fits the bill perfectly.