Blackberry, once the de facto standard among smartphones, has struggled to remain relevant in the iPhone and Android era. A new initiative may help change that. According to a press release, the company is going back to its roots and doubling down on security.
Throughout its history, Blackberry’s security has been legendary, based on strong encryption algorithms that have given government agencies and hackers alike a run for their money. Now, Blackberry Limited has created the Blackberry Advanced Technology Development Labs (Blackberry Labs), a new business unit that will focus on cybersecurity R&D.
Company CTO Charles Eagan will head up Blackberry Labs and oversee a team of more than 120 software developers, researchers, architects, security experts and product leads. The team will focus on developing new technologies to help the Blackberry platform stay on the forefront of cybersecurity.
The team will use machine learning and data science to analyze threats companies face, especially at a time when the Internet of Things (IoT) has drastically changed the nature of cybersecurity and opened companies to entirely new risks.
“The establishment of BlackBerry Labs is the latest in a series of strategic moves we’ve taken to ensure our customers are protected across all endpoints and verticals in the new IoT,” said Charles Eagan, BlackBerry CTO. “Today’s cybersecurity industry is rapidly advancing and BlackBerry Labs will operate as its own business unit solely focused on innovating and developing the technologies of tomorrow that will be necessary for our sustained competitive success, from A to Z; Artificial Intelligence to Zero-Trust environments. We believe this highly experienced team will allow us to remain nimble, engaged and, above all else, proactive in our efforts to be the most trusted security software leader in the market.”
At a time when cybersecurity and privacy are at the forefront of the tech industry, with the latter increasingly being considered a fundamental human right, Blackberry Labs could help the company regain lost ground.