BlackBerry doubles up on debut in Detroit

CEO unveils cybersecurity product in first outing at show

BlackBerry Ltd. CEO John Chen used his first appearance at the Detroit auto show on Monday to continue his push into the automotive market with the launch of a cybersecurity product that manages software systems in vehicles — a product he hopes will solidify BlackBerry’s position as a leader in cybersecurity.

The product, called BlackBerry Jarvis, scans and identifies vulnerabilities in software components used in connected and self- driving vehicles, Chen announced in a keynote speech at the North American International Automotive Show.

His invite to speak at the major industry event reflects software’s increasing importance to the auto sector. More critically, it was his chance to convince major automakers that BlackBerry has the chops to provide the technology.

Since a single vehicle can have hundreds of software elements created by various sources, it can be time consuming for experts to manually check how — and if — it’s all working together. Chen said BlackBerry’s new product can scan all this information in minutes and alert developers to any flaws. This will help manufacturers comply with safety standards and prevent cyber attacks, he added.

“Jarvis is a game- changer f or original equipment manufacturers because for the first time they have a complete, consistent, and near real- time view into the production- readiness and security posture of a vehicle’s entire code base along with the insights and deep learning needed to predict and fix vulnerabilities, ensure compliance, and remain a step ahead of bad actors,” Chen said in a statement.

The Waterloo, Ont. company will sell the product it describes it as a “cloud-based static binary code scanning solution, on a pay-as-you-go usage basis.

BlackBerry says the product is in the trial phase with some of the world’s largest automakers, including Jaguar Land Rover. In an independent study by Jaguar, Jarvis reduced the time to assess security code to seven minutes from 30 days, CEO Ralf Speth said in a statement. That’s more than 6,000 times faster.

“The productivity delivered by Jarvis combined with BlackBerry’s trusted security heritage can transform vehicle safety,” Speth said.

To help build BlackBerry’s case, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains joined Chen onstage to promote it as part of Canada’s innovation community.

Ford Motor Co.’ s chief technology officer Kenneth Washington also j oined Chen on the stage as a “validator that we have every right to be here,” Chen said. Ford uses BlackBerry’s QNX technology for its infotainment systems.

Over the past year BlackBerry has inked deals to work on connected and self-driving technology with companies including Baidu, Delphi, Denso, NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Visteon.

BlackBerry’s push into the automotive space and its agreements with major players have led to renewed interest from investors. Its stock jumped more than 50 per cent in 2017 and hit a fiveyear high when it closed at $ 17.94 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Jan. 9.

It’s a welcome change for the former champion of the smartphone industry. It struggled with somewhat of an identity crisis over the past few years as it pulled back from, and eventually abandoned, making the devices that made it a household name. After incremental gains as it switched gears to focus on a variety of software products, investors finally seem onboard with the turnaround strategy.

Software makers such as BlackBerry and automakers are racing to develop selfdriving technology, an industry that’s expected to be worth trillions of dollars in the next 20 years.