BlackBerry Can Now Protect US Government From Eavesdroppers

BlackBerry is now certified by the US government to offer it and federal agencies software that adds end-to-end encryption to voice calls and texts.

The Canadian firm’s ‘SecuSUITE for government’ platform has received approval from the NSA’s National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP), which assesses technology to see if it meets Washington’s security standards.

SecuSUITE, part of BlackBerry Secure, promises to protect governments and agencies against eavesdropping without compromising usability or reliability as it works across multiple networks.

BlackBerry government

BlackBerry says it is the only such certified voice service supporting iOS, Android and BlackBerry 10.

“Call tapping is happening at an alarming rate,” said Alex Thurber, General Manager of Mobility Solutions, BlackBerry. “In today’s connected world, restricting agency employees to only exchange classified information from the desk phone is no longer a viable option, but it could be the new reality if governments don’t start securing calls and texts from mobile devices.

“Our governments need to be mobile and they need their conversations secure, or more importantly, BlackBerry Secure.”

BlackBerry, which serves more than 20 governments around the world, has put all of its resources into developing mobile management and security software following its exit from the smartphone market.

Once the mobile leader in the enterprise market, BlackBerry’s share has fallen dramatically since the turn of the decade as it failed to keep up with changes in demand, while Apple and Android manufacturers caught up in security and administration features.

A last-ditch attempt to revive its fortunes by switching from the delayed BlackBerry 10 OS to Android failed, despite critical acclaim.

However the company’s financial results since then appear to suggest the strategy is working out.

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