WHY BLACKBERRY IS GETTING INTO CYBERSECURITY

BlackBerry Ltd.’ s acquisition of U. K.- based Encription Ltd. and its launch of a new cybersecurity services division make a lot of sense.

It allows the Waterloo, Ont.-based company to leverage its core strengths in security and mobile technology, while consulting presents a new opportunity that could increase BlackBerry’s share of corporate IT spending.

Since Encription has less than 50 employees, the deal is unlikely to have a major impact on BlackBerry anytime soon, but TD Securities analyst Daniel Chan noted the Canadian firm’s entry into the consulting space allows it to utilize its expertise in some of the highest- growth segments of IT services.

Research firm Gartner estimates the global cybersecurity consulting industry does about US$ 16.5- billion worth of business annually, with that figure set to grow to US$23 billion in 2019.

In addition to enterprise cybersecurity, BlackBerry is targeting security in the automotive space and other segments of the Internet of Things — the network of physical objects that coll ect and exchange data.