BlackBerry appoints new chief security officer to drive Internet of Things plans

'If you think we have a big security problem with a billion smartphones, think what will happen when we have a trillion autonomous objects,' says David Kleidermacher

BlackBerry has announced the appointment of David Kleidermacher in the role of chief security officer (CSO) as the Canadian firm looks to improve its offerings in the areas of mobile device Management and Internet of Things-related security.

Kleidermacher has joined BlackBerry from Green Hills Software, a company that describes itself as "the largest independent embedded software provider", where he was CTO.

As CSO at BlackBerry, Kleidermacher will oversee initiatives surrounding security-specific research and product development, along with the company's BlackBerry's product certification and approval scheme.

The ultimate objective of his role is to ensure "BlackBerry's continued leadership in secure enterprise mobility", the company said.

John Chen, executive chairman and CEO of BlackBerry, welcomed the appointment:

"David is an outstanding addition to our best-in-class security team, and he will help extend BlackBerry's gold standard of security as we work with customers to meet new cyber security challenges.

"In particular, David's knowledge of securing the Internet of Things and embedded systems will be invaluable as we execute on our strategy and continue to expand our management of the world's mobile endpoints," he added.

A further area of responsibility for Kleidermacher will be to develop BlackBerry's Internet of Things security platform. Security concerns surrounding the Internet of Things and connected devices appear to be on the rise and BlackBerry is aiming to position itself as a leader in the IoT security sector.

"If you think we have a big security problem with a billion smartphones, think what will happen when we have a trillion autonomous objects," Kleidermacher said, speaking on his appointment. "I think BlackBerry is uniquely positioned to meet this challenge head-on and I'm excited to be part of it," he added.

BlackBerry was once the preferred enterprise mobility tool for business, but the rise of Apple and Android and even Microsoft Windows smartphones has seen the Canadian firm fall away as a device manufacturer.

As a result, BlackBerry CEO Chen appears to be refocusing the company as a mobile security specialist and the firm even established an MDM partnership with Samsung towards the end of last year.