BlackBerry (BBRY) Security Affirmed by U.K.'s Cameron; Announces Galaxy Tab-Based SecuTABLET

BlackBerry (Nasdaq: BBRY) posted the following to its official blog on Wednesday:

If you’re at the top, you’ve got to have the top equipment – no matter which side of the “pond” you happen to be on.

This was highlighted earlier this week by British Prime Minister David Cameron in a video interview with BuzzFeed.

As we reported last year, Cameron feels comfortable with his ability to handle anything on the go armed with his BlackBerry. “Wherever I am in the world, I am always within a few feet of a BlackBerry and an ability to manage things should they need to be managed,” he said.

He maintained that point in his BuzzFeed interview, saying “I have a BlackBerry which I use for work, which is very good for email.”

When pressed on the issue, Cameron reiterated, “They’re good. The Government has a BlackBerry service. They’re actually very good for emails and documents.”

For Cameron, along with other world leaders such as U.S. President Barack Obama, Denmark’s Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it’s gotta be BlackBerry – or it’s just not good enough, especially when national security is on the line.

There’s now a new tablet these leaders could add to their very small lists of approved devices: the SecuTABLET, also announced earlier this week as the result of a partnership between BlackBerry-owned Secusmart, Samsung and IBM.

A Secure Tablet, You Say?

Based on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 running Android, the SecuTABLET is built with security designed to satisfy the special needs of government leaders and regulated enterprises.The same anti-surveillance technology behind the Secusmart Security Card’s encrypted voice and messaging, already used by Merkel and others in the German government, also secures the new SecuTABLET.

“Organizations deploying the SecuTABLET will be able to set policies controlling what apps can run on the devices, and whether those apps must be wrapped,” explained IBM Germany spokesman Stefan Hefter, as reported by the IDG News Service.

“The wrapping process – in which an app is downloaded from a public app store, bundled with additional libraries that encrypt its network traffic and intercept Android ‘intents’ for actions such as cutting or pasting data, then uploaded to a private app store – ensures that corporate data can be protected at rest, in motion and in use,” he said. “For instance, it can prevent data from a secure email being copied and pasted into the Facebook app running on the same device – yet allow it to be pasted into a secure collaboration environment, or any other app forming part of the same ‘federation.’”

As ZDNet’s Sean Portnoy writes, “As proof of just how secure the SecuTABLET aims to be, the German Federal Office for Information Security is currently putting it through its certification process to grant it a classified-level security rating.”

Can you say any of that about your garden-variety tablet?

And while the SecuTABLET costs more than typical Android tablets, Mashable declares that “for the global organizations BlackBerry is targeting, safeguarding high-stakes data is often well worth the cost.”

There’s a Reason to Trust BlackBerry

With over 70 security certifications from governments – more than any competitor – BlackBerry is the chosen mobile solutions provider for all of the G7 governments and 16 of the G20 governments. We also afford business leaders like celebrity chef/food entrepreneur Tyler Florence, sports executive Timothy J. Leiweke and media mogul Arianna Huffington the productivity they need, with security they can trust.

Indeed, TechRadar placed both the BlackBerry Passport and the BlackBerry Classic on its “Best Business Smartphones” list.

“BlackBerry has always been at the forefront of email on go, with its excellent physical keyboard now backed up by the impressive messaging handling of the BlackBerry 10 operating system,” it wrote. “The big advantage with the BlackBerry Passport is the firm’s excellent support for business users.”

The SecuTABLET renews our commitment to ultra-secure communications for those that need and demand it.

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