BlackBerry unveils CHACE, a new Internet of Things security initiative

BlackBerry has announced the launch of a new initiative called the BlackBerry Center for High Assurance Computing Excellence, or CHACE for short, which aims to further bolster security in the Internet of Things age.

The idea of CHACE is to reverse the current fail-then-patch approach to security, BlackBerry notes, with the development of security tools that offer a far better level of security protection than is now available -- a proactive approach to vulnerability prevention which is far more cost effective.

Bob Egan, CEO, Sepharim Research Group, commented: "As the number of connected devices multiplies, so do the threats to security and privacy. Organizations need to rethink the way they approach security and transition from a reactive posture to one that is proactive and promises the greatest defense against sophisticated cyber-attackers".

In a press statement, BlackBerry further commented that it has a "long history in high assurance techniques" in the security world, including deep vulnerability analysis and extremely thorough automated testing, all of which expertise will be applied when it comes to CHACE’s vulnerability prevention mission. CHACE promises a "nation-state level sophistication" in terms of vulnerability assessment, and the likes of ethical hacking.

David Kleidermacher, Chief Security Officer, BlackBerry, commented: "There’s a belief that the key to the world’s security issues is to patch faster, but this hamster wheel fails to address the root issue. Systems that require regular patching always contain vulnerabilities unknown to developers, and some of these vulnerabilities are in fact known by would-be attackers. It’s clear we must build systems that are provably devoid of security flaws. The software and security engineering required to meet this objective is sadly rare today and must become commonplace. CHACE is BlackBerry’s initiative towards this goal, and we welcome all who wish to join the fight".

A number of leading organizations are already supporting the CHACE initiative, BlackBerry contends, and key partners will include industry groups and academic institutions among others.

Those interested in joining up with CHACE should check out this web page.

Photo credit: Olivier Le Moal / Shutterstock

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