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Secusmart’s technology makes it harder for hackers, whether corporate or government spies, to eavesdrop on voice calls and data. It already counts Angela Merkel, the German chancellor and Interior Minister, who last year allegedly had her phone hacked by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), as a user of its encryption-enhanced BlackBerry devices.

Acquiring Secusmart “fits very well [with] our strategy”, said chief executive John Chen, at BlackBerry’s security summit in New York on Tuesday.

“I’m very excited to announce an acquisition of a company that we have been working with for a long time… [Secusmart] will be operating as a standalone [company], but it will be a cornerstone of our security offering,” he said.

BlackBerry did not disclose the terms of buying the privately held Secusmart, and the deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Chancellor Merkel was given a BlackBerry Z10 last year outfitted with Secusmart’s technology in the wake of revelations that the NSA monitored conversations on her mobile phone.

We built for BlackBerry the most secure smartphone in the world

The German Federal Ministry of the Interior told the Financial Post Monday that it used 3,000 encrypted BlackBerry devices from Secusmart and plans to buy more.

BlackBerry is the only device that passed the German ministry’s standards for secure phones and cleared for use by its officials, ministry spokesperson Tobias Plate told the Financial Post Monday.

Officials at NATO headquarters are also looking to acquire the encrypted BlackBerrys, said Secusmart co-founder and managing director Hans-Christoph Quelle.