John Chen (BlackBerry)
BlackBerry has completed its US$1.4 billion acquisition of machine-learning specialists Cylance, it has been revealed.
Cylance leverages machine learning to effectively preempt security breaches before they occur, and comes with over 3,500 active enterprise customers.
“Today BlackBerry took a giant step forward toward our goal of being the world’s largest and most trusted AI-cyber security company,” said John Chen, executive chairman and CEO of BlackBerry. “Securing endpoints and the data that flows between them is absolutely critical in today’s hyperconnected world.
"By adding Cylance’s technology to our arsenal of cyber security solutions we will help enterprises intelligently connect, protect and build secure endpoints that users can trust."
In recent years, the Canadian technology vendor has moved away from the smartphone market and towards selling software to mobile device management and intelligent applications such as autonomous vehicles.
The acquisition of Cylance is another step in that direction, adding to the vendor’s already growing end-to-end secure communications portfolio; most notably, its embeddable AI technology will accelerate the development of its secure communications platform for the internet of things (IoT), BlackBerry Spark.
“In this deal BlackBerry obtains advanced security technology that it can deploy within its existing platforms while also providing a complementary fit in terms of market vision and customer focus,” said Brian Partridge, research vice president, 451 Research.
Cylance CEO Stuart McClure is expected to stay on as president of BlackBerry Cylance, taking the firm on its next phase of growth.
