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Deloitte, BlackBerry Ink IoT Supply Chain Security Partnership

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Deloitte, which operates a Top 250 MSSP, and BlackBerry are partnering to help companies secure their software supply chains. Target markets include aerospace, automotive and medical ecosystems.

Software supply chain security has become top-of-mind after the SolarWinds Orion and Kaseya VSA cyberattacks -- both of which extended from the software suppliers out to their partners and end-customers. President Biden's executive order on cybersecurity, issued in May 2021, further emphasized the need for supply chain security across federal agencies and their IT service providers.

Amid that backdrop, the Deloitte-BlackBerry relationship leverages BlackBerry Jarvis, a software tool that allows users to identify and remediate software vulnerabilities, and eliminates the need for manual scanning, the software company says.

The relationship surfaces as Deloitte pushes deeper into the cybersecurity market, and BlackBerry extends beyond the Cylance endpoint security software acquisition of 2018.

Deloitte's cyber strategy includes organic growth, partnerships and acquisitions. Among the company's cyber-related acquisitions so far in 2021:

  1. aeCyberSolutions: Deloitte acquired the industrial cybersecurity solutions division of Applied Engineering Solutions in August 2021.
  2. TransientX: Deloitte acquired TransientX in July 2021 to expand its Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and government-focused capabilities.
  3. Terbium Labs: Deloitte in June 2021 purchased digital risk protection provider Terbium Labs and integrated the company’s security capabilities into its Detect & Respond offering suite.
  4. CloudQuest: Deloitte in June 2021 bought cloud security posture management (CSPM) company CloudQuest to enhance its security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) strategy.
  5. Root9B (R9B): Deloitte in January 2021 acquired threat hunting services and solutions provider R9B to upgrade its Fusion managed security services.

Meanwhile, BlackBerry in September 2021 hired McAfee and AVG Technologies veteran John Giamatteo as president of the company’s Cyber Security business unit. That unit spans such products and technologies as:

  • Spark endpoint security and endpoint management product;
  • unified endpoint management (UEM);
  • AtHoc, which is critical event management software; and
  • Secusmart, a secure voice and text product.

Giamatteo previously was president of McAfee, and chief operating officer at AVG Technologies.

Dan Kobialka

Dan Kobialka is senior contributing editor, MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E. He covers IT security, IT service provider business strategies and partner programs. Dan holds a M.A. in Print and Multimedia Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater State University. In his free time, Dan enjoys jogging, traveling, playing sports, touring breweries and watching football.