Secusmart, a BlackBerry Subsidiary, Develops Vodafone Anti-eavesdropping Secure Call Service

BARCELONA, SPAIN--(March 2, 2015) - MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2015 - Secusmart, a subsidiary of BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ:BBRY)(TSX:BB), announced today that it has collaborated with Vodafone Germany to deliver a service that offers corporate users a new, powerful encryption solution for maximum voice communications security. This collaboration demonstrates BlackBerry's continued commitment to focus on highly secure and cross-platform solutions.

Vodafone Secure Call is an app-based VoIP solution for the end-to-end encryption of mobile calls. It's easy to use on all networks, even while roaming, and will launch as an app for Android and iOS smartphones. Secure Call uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit encryption, which is so strong that it would take a supercomputer one billion billion years to crack with a brute force attack⁽¹⁾. To further ensure security, the temporary keys to encrypt voice communications are generated on the device and deleted immediately after the call.

"Our Vodafone Secure Call app enables companies of all sizes to make highly secure telephone calls. It provides employees with a particularly effective way of protecting themselves against electronic eavesdropping. The solution combines maximum security with ease of use. The encryption app is an important addition to Vodafone's range of security solutions and allows companies to protect their intellectual property," explains Philip Lacor, Chief Customer Officer Enterprise at Vodafone Germany.

"Vodafone Germany is a longtime - and great - partner to work with to develop this anti-eavesdropping solution, one suitable for enterprises or organizations of all sizes," said Dr. Hans-Christoph Quelle, Managing Director at Secusmart and Senior Vice President, Secusmart Secure Voice at BlackBerry. "We worked quickly with Vodafone Germany to bring Secure Call to the marketplace and ensure that we could deliver a cost-effective, cross-platform solution that is easy to implement."

Key benefits of the Vodafone Secure Call solution:

• Available to all enterprise customers: from small business to large corporations.
  
  
• Supports operating systems iOS 7 and higher, Android 4.3 and higher, and coming soon to BlackBerry 10.
  
  
• Functions in EDGE, UMTS and LTE networks, and WiFi hotspots.
  
  
• Provider-independent and can be used anywhere in the world.
  
  
• Strong voice quality at low bandwidth.
  
  
• An infrastructure that is hosted at a high security, certified Vodafone Germany data center.
  
  

Vodafone Secure Call is available today. German enterprise customers are able to subscribe to the Vodafone Secure Call app for EUR 14.95 a month per user. It will be billed on the basis of usage, without a fixed contract term.

For further information on Vodafone Secure Call, visit www.vodafone.de.

About BlackBerry

A global leader in mobile communications, BlackBerry® revolutionized the mobile industry when it was introduced in 1999. Today, BlackBerry aims to inspire the success of our millions of customers around the world by continuously pushing the boundaries of mobile experiences. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols "BB" on the Toronto Stock Exchange and "BBRY" on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com.

⁽¹⁾ How secure is AES against brute force attacks? EETimes