BlackBerry has made another step in its efforts to have its BES 10 device management platform seen as a secure device management platform beyond its own smart phones.
The company said Wednesday that its Secure Work Space containerization solution for Android and iOS now meets the U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2.
FIPS 140-2 is an encryption standard that a number of governments and some highly regulated organizations around the world demand be met for the best security for data at rest and in transit.
BlackBerry Enterprise Services 10 was certified a while ago for BlackBerry handsets. The latest certification means that organizations that use BES 10 for managing Android and iOS devices meet the same test.
Secure Work Space is a solution added to BES 10 to expand the mobile management platform’s reach to include devices beyond BlackBerrys. It allows administrators to separate corporate data from personal information on iOS and Android devices, and wipe the corporate partition when necessary. A similar capability for BlackBerry devices is called BlackBerry Balance.
“BlackBerry is considered the most trusted and secure mobile platform and we continue to provide customers with choice and flexibility without compromising security,” Scott Totzke, senior vice president of BlackBerry’s security group, said in a statement. “The FIPS 140-2 validation for Secure Work Space for iOS and Android demonstrates the multi-platform security capabilities that BlackBerry delivers for customers, helping governments and enterprises alike to deploy third-party devices with more confidence and less risk.”
FIPS 140-2 is issued by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which co-ordinate the requirements and standards for certifying cryptographic modules, BlackBerry (TSX: BB)said. The standard was developed through the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP), which certifies products for use by U.S. government agencies and regulated industries that collect, store, transfer, share and disseminate sensitive information. Product certifications under the CMVP are performed in accordance with the requirements of FIPS 140-2.
The certification is accepted and supported by the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) for government use here.