UPDATED 11:39 EDT / FEBRUARY 24 2016

NEWS

BlackBerry launches security practice to help companies combat hacking

While most of the other vendors attending the Mobile World Congress this week are showing off their latest consumer gadgets, BlackBerry Ltd. is focusing solely on the enterprise. The main talking point at the company’s booth this morning is its launch of a new security practice that will focus on helping organizations defend their infrastructure against the growing threat of hacking.

The Ponemon Institute estimates that data breaches cost the global economy more than $400 billion each year in lost productivity and other damages. Another big portion of the tally comes from the small fortune that organizations often spend on an external network review in the wake of a major compromise. The professionals at BlackBerry’s Professional Security Services group will split their time between performing such forensic work and helping customers prepare in advance for the possibility of an attack.

The company plans to do everything from inspecting corporate infrastructure for vulnerabilities to assisting with the implementation of breach prevention policies. BlackBerry will place a particular emphasis on securing wearables and the other new end-points that are entering the workplace, which represent one of the most dangerous attack vectors into the corporate network. Back in 2014, HP Inc. had its forensic experts review 10 of the most popular connected devices on the market and found that eight suffered from severe privacy issues, with an average of 25 per model.

BlackBerry’s consulting arm will not only work with enterprises to secure the new gadgets that employees are bringing to work but also help vendors ensure that their hardware isn’t vulnerable in the first place. The effort should present plenty of opportunities to upsell customers on the company’s security-focused embedded OS for connected devices, which is already hugely popular in the manufacturing world. The software supports more than 60 million smart cars and a variety of other systems ranging from industrial machinery to hospital equipment.

Image via Pixabay

 


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