BlackBerry Jumps Into Security With $1.4B Cylance Acquisition

A week after the first rumors of the acquisition began to surface, BlackBerry confirmed on Nov. 16 that it is acquiring cyber-security vendor Cylance for $1.4 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close before BlackBerry's fiscal year end in February 2019. Cylance is best known for its suite of endpoint detection and response (EDR) security capabilities, including the company's Protect, Optics, ThreatZero and Smart Antivirus products. "Cylance’s leadership in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity will immediately complement our entire portfolio, UEM and QNX in particular," John Chen, executive chairman and CEO of BlackBerry, wrote in a statement. "We believe adding Cylance’s capabilities to our trusted advantages in privacy, secure mobility, and embedded systems will make BlackBerry Spark indispensable to realizing the Enterprise of Things."