BlackBerry signs $1.4bn AI cybersecurity deal

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BlackBerry has revealed a $1.4bn deal to acquire AI security firm Cylance.

The purchase, the company's largest to date, will help BlackBerry to boost its cybersecurity capabilities, particularly in its Spark and QNX divisions - the latter of which provides the software used in many connected cars on the road today.

Cylance uses high-end AI and machine learning to help companies protect themselves from attack, with its models and algorithms able to predict and prevent both known and unknown threats.

The company currently has around 3,500 active enterprise customers, including more than 20 per cent of the Fortune 500, giving BlackBerry access to more top-end organisations across the business world.

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“Cylance’s leadership in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity will immediately complement our entire portfolio, UEM and QNX in particular. We are very excited to onboard their team and leverage our newly combined expertise,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO of BlackBerry. 

"We believe adding Cylance’s capabilities to our trusted advantages in privacy, secure mobility, and embedded systems will make BlackBerry Spark indispensable to realizing the Enterprise of Things.”

The all-cash deal is set to complete early next year, with BlackBerry saying that it expects Cylance to operate as a separate business unit within the company.

“Our highly skilled cybersecurity workforce and market leadership in next-generation endpoint solutions will be a perfect fit within BlackBerry where our customers, teams and technologies will gain immediate benefits from BlackBerry’s global reach,” said Stuart McClure, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Cylance. 

“We are eager to leverage BlackBerry’s mobility and security strengths to adapt our advanced AI technology to deliver a single platform.”

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