WATERLOO — BlackBerry technology will be keeping sensitive NATO communications secure around the world.

NATO's Communications and Information Agency has awarded a contract to the Waterloo-based firm for its SecuSuite for Government solution that can encrypt phone communications at work, at home, or while travelling.

"As cybercriminals and state-sponsored actors become increasingly more sophisticated, we needed a highly-secure way for our cyber leaders to have phone conversations with people inside and outside of our organization regardless of where they are in the world," the agency's general manager, Kevin Scheid, said in a news release. "BlackBerry's voice encryption technology helps solve this challenge and strengthens our elite cyber-defence strategy."

The agency helps NATO's 29 member nations, including Canada, communicate securely and combat cyber-attacks.

"Eavesdropping on calls is one of the easiest ways to gain access to private information," said Christoph Erdmann, senior vice-president of BlackBerry Secusmart. "We are extremely proud that the NCI Agency, a world leader in the development and use of technology that keeps NATO nations secure, has put its trust in BlackBerry's software to secure their voice communication."

BlackBerry also announced Tuesday that it has established a new wholly-owned subsidiary based in Washington, D.C. to handle business with U.S. federal government agencies.

The new BlackBerry Government Solutions is separate from BlackBerry Ltd., a Canadian company, to meet American national security requirements. BlackBerry Ltd. already has a presence in the Washington area.

BlackBerry provides security and data privacy for the U.S. Cabinet and almost all federal departments; its crisis communications solution covers more than 70 per cent of federal employees.

BlackBerry Government Solutions is headed by retired U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Robert Day, Jr.

bdavis@therecord.com

Twitter: @DavisRecord

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