BlackBerry Unveils BBM Protected For Secure Enterprise Messaging

BlackBerry Monday rolled out new secure messaging software, BBM Protected, the first release in its eBBM Suite, which was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in February. It allows for secure enterprise-class messaging between BlackBerry phones and is targeted at the enterprise market, the customer base that partners say keeps BlackBerry in business.

’It’s refreshing as a company that has invested in BlackBerry to see it going back to their roots of encryption and the enterprise and not so much the consumer play,’ said Rick Jordan, director of mobility sales at Tenet Computer Group, a Toronto-based solution provider and longtime BlackBerry partner. ’Blackberry chased the consumer for a while and it didn’t work. They’ve regrouped and I think they’ve got the right direction here. It’s the enterprise and the security space. It allows them to be them and go after companies looking for that security side."

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The enhanced secure messaging software is the only mobile instant messaging app that uses a FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic library, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said. FIPS 140-2 is a U.S. federal government computer security standard used to give credence to cryptographic modules.

’We’ve been testing BBM Protected on behalf of our customers and have been impressed so far,’ said Zekeria Oezdemir, technical director of NovaLink, in a statement released by BlackBerry. ’BBM Protected is the ideal solution for our banking and insurance customers who have increased security needs.’

BBM Protected isn’t limited to users inside their own company, as employees can securely message with BBM Protected users at other companies, as well as people in their personal lives, according to BlackBerry

’We’ve seen a lot of pin-to-pin communication, but BBM is a way to communicate in a very secure way,’ Jordan said. ’We are glad to see that as a company, BlackBerry is focused on the enterprise. The most important thing is your data, and the encryption that BlackBerry provides is important to that data. They have the right people in place to slowly make those changes. From there they got the right mix."

PUBLISHED JUNE 17, 2014