BlackBerry Ltd. is banking on its 35-year reputation to make it a viable software alternative as scrutiny mounts over Chinese tech firms.

“We’ve been a very trusted source of security software for Five Eye countries,” the company’s CEO John Chen told BNN Bloomberg in an interview on Wednesday, referring to the intelligence alliance between Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

“We’re also very trusted partners in the NATO world, the EU, the G20. Because of that we’re in pretty good position - not because of China and Huawei and all that – it’s because we’ve been in this business for a very long time.”

Concerns over the Chinese government’s access to rival systems and sensitive user data through devices and networks employed by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. has prompted rhetoric and even some action from the United States and many of its allies.

The United States, Australia and New Zealand have all blocked or limited the use of Huawei equipment as the company eyes a global toehold for 5G technology.

Chen said he is not concerned about the perception of his own company’s Chinese business, since it’s largely contained to domestic products.

“We don’t do much in China,” he said. “We do have partners developing auto software in China, but mostly for the Chinese market, so it’s not really re-exported outside of China.”

“So, for BlackBerry it’s not a huge concern, but more for networking companies… phone companies, telecommunications companies, in general, that are more on the equipment side: They might have a little bit more concern.”

BlackBerry – which celebrates its 35th anniversary this week – endured a difficult turnaround under Chen, who has helmed the company since 2013. While Chen has been stating the turnaround is complete for months, he said the company’s November acquisition of cybersecurity firm Cylance Inc. should eliminate any lingering doubts.

“The fact of the matter is we were able to make an acquisition of Cylance by writing a cheque for $1.4 billion,” he said. “[That] should tell you a little bit about whether the turnaround is done or not.”

Chen said he wants the company to be at the forefront as the software and cybersecurity market heads towards artificial intelligence, machine-learning and the Internet of Things.

“We want to get into that in a leadership position,” Chen said. He added that while he would not disclose his company’s growth projections for the next year at this time, it would be “safe to say that we’re looking for good double-digit growth.”