BlackBerry Wins Key Security Approval for Android, iOS Device Management

The company said the DISA clearance will allow its customers in various US Department of Defense agencies to begin to use its BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) 10 system to manage and secure devices powered by Google Inc's Android operating system and Apple Inc's iOS software.

BlackBerry launched the service to manage rival devices on its BES system a year ago, as part of a move that would help the company sell high-margin services to its large clients even if many, or all, their workers use smartphones made by its competitors.

The new feature, dubbed Secure Work Space, is managed through BES 10, a new back-end system launched at the start of 2013 that allows BlackBerry's clients to control mobile devices on their internal networks.

The decision to service non-BlackBerry devices came as the company's devices had waned in popularity with consumers.

BlackBerry last week further burnished its credentials with highly security-conscious clients like government agencies, by buying Secusmart, a privately held German firm that specializes in voice and data encryption.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based smartphone maker did not disclose the terms of its deal to acquire Secusmart GmbH, which specializes in encryption and anti-eavesdropping services for governments, companies and telecommunications service providers.

The acquisition is the latest by the smartphone pioneer to build on niche areas in an attempt to reinvent itself under new Chief Executive John Chen and recover ground ceded to Apple's iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co's Galaxy devices.

Edited by NDTV staff from original copy by Reuters