Case Study

Protecting Global Intelligence:
Why Secure Communications isa Matter of International Urgency
Conflict International
Industry:
Security & Investigations
Location:
United States
Product:BlackBerry® SecuSUITE®
Website:www.conflictinternational.com

Whether in the public sector or the private enterprise, an organization is only as
secure as its weakest link. And increasingly, that weak link is its communications.
Savvy cybercriminals know that directly targeting established infrastructure is afool’s game – so instead, they focus on intercepting both messages and data.
It’s a scenario that Stephen Komorek, U.S. Operations Director and Senior Special
Investigator at Conflict International, knows all too well.
“Despite their widespread use in the business world, platforms like Signal andWhatsApp are not secure,” explains Komorek. “Most governments around the world
actually have direct access to their backends, to say nothing of bad actors, bothstate-sponsored and independent. There are multiple layers of risk, ranging from
economic theft to corporate espionage to signal intelligence.”“Especially if you’re working in the intelligence field, diplomatic field, or corporate
security, the threat of espionage is extremely high,” he continues. “Most people
don’t actually realize just how exposed they are. If your organization doesn’t havethe use of proper, secure communications, you’re opening yourself up to both data
theft and extreme liability.”Knowledge is Power
A worldwide private intelligence, investigative, and security firm, Conflict International
maintains contacts in over 90 different countries. It is an agency that prides itself
on its solution-oriented approach. The services it provides are varied, including bug
sweeps, electronic countermeasures, counterespionage, corporate backgroundchecks, surveillance, and hostage negotiation.
For Conflict International, each client represents a unique challenge. And for eachchallenge, there is a unique solution. Through his work with the agency, Komorek
himself has been involved in international criminal investigations, fought against
human trafficking, and even proved instrumental in releasing an American citizen
facing the death penalty overseas.
“I like to ask my clients first to tell me what’s going on – a lot of people believe they
have the solutions they’re looking for and know what they want,” says Komorek.
“The problem is that they don’t know what the options are. They don’t understandthe legalities, they don’t know what they can or cannot do, and they aren’t fully awareof the risks they face.”“Once we’ve gotten a feel for a client, we bring in the best industry professionals
for their individual situation,” he continues. “Most of them, we have on staff. Those
we don’t have on staff, we know where to find them – the best and brightest
professionals and the most suitable solutions possible.”

When Anyone Could Be Listening In
As part of their job, Komorek and his colleagues pay close attention to intelligence,espionage, and cybersecurity. And in recent years, they’ve noticed one trend
becoming overwhelmingly and concerningly common. Corporate communications
are simply no longer secure.
“Signal intelligence capabilities have recently gone through the roof, becoming bothmore sophisticated and more readily available to bad actors,” says Komorek. “Thereexists a fast-growing number of intercepts in corporate communications, and themost commonly-used platforms are growing more compromised and less secure.
Businesses aren’t keeping pace with this, and criminals are actively targeting themas a result.”
With the push towards distributed work that has been accelerated by COVID-19,
digital communications are now a necessary part of most organizations’ day-to-daylife. Conflict International is no exception to this. With operations in regions that
include Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia, it maintains vast, interconnected lines
of contact.
And these lines of contact must be kept secure, both for the sake of Conflict
International’s staff and for its clientele.
“The last thing you want, especially in our industry, is to have either your team oryour client’s information compromised,” Komorek explains. “It all boils down tomitigation of damages and risk. To be able to ensure safety for our professionals
and peace of mind for our clients.”

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Although Conflict International already had a solution for secure communication inplace, Komorek and his colleagues were dissatisfied with it. They needed something
better. Something more advanced, more intuitive, and more comprehensive.
“We called together a global think tank to evaluate multiple alternatives to ourexisting secure communication platform,” recalls Komorek. “It was something we
discussed on an international level, carefully evaluating what was available to us.
That evaluation led us to BlackBerry® SecuSUITE®.”

Shutting Out The Eavesdroppers
A high-security encryption tool certified to meet the highest security requirements,
SecuSUITE® allows employees to make secure phone calls and exchange secure
messages using off-the-shelf Android™ and iOS® devices. Rather than forcing staff torely on bulky, inconvenient, and complicated specialized communications systems,
SecuSUITE layers itself atop existing communication tools, allowing for an incredible
degree of flexibility in deployment.
“When we discovered SecuSUITE, I reached out to BlackBerry and discussed thesolution in person,” Komorek elaborates. “Once I got the technical information on
the product, using it simply made sense. It offered everything we were looking for– we worked with BlackBerry to deploy it, and even got to beta test some upcomingfeatures.”
Conflict International now uses SecuSUITE not only to help protect privileged
information but also to manage and control access levels, protecting theorganization against unauthorized access to conversations and communications.
The platform’s ease of use allows the agency to quickly swap out field agents asneeded, while its prominence in the federal government allows for a great deal ofinterconnectivity with some of Conflict International’s most important clients. Oneof the solution’s most valuable features, notes Komorek, is its barcode function.

“I’ma firm
believer“Crisismanagement,in BlackBerry, and inwhat they do.
SecuSUITE is a securecommunications tool
that’s easy to deployand use, providing uswith security, peace ofmind, data protection,and safety. With
SecuSUITE, we canensure that sensitive
communication only
goes to the people
who need to hear it– and doesn’t find its
way to unauthorizedparties.”– Stephen Komorek,U.S. Operations Director/Senior Special Investigator,
Conflict International“Let’s say you have an asset in a foreign country, and you have a team there thatneeds to work together over comms, but you don’t want to give them tiered access,”
Komorek explains. “You can print off a barcode, hand them a phone, scan it, thenburn the barcode immediately. Once you’re done, you can delete the code fromthe system – it makes it easy to bring people up to speed securely, effectively, andefficiently, even across multiple locations.”

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Building Better Lines of Contact“No matter how secure you think your business is, there is always a weak link,”
says Komorek. “And if your weak link is communication, know that there arepeople actively targeting that. If you’re not doing everything you can to secure yourbusiness’s communications, then you are exposed.”“The best, most secure communication is and always will be face-to-face,” Komorek
concludes. “But that’s not always feasible, especially for international organizations.
SecuSUITE provides us with a solution to that problem – it helps us keep ourpersonnel safely connected and in contact no matter where they may be.”About BlackBerryBlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises andgovernments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including 150M carson the road today. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver
innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in
the areas of endpoint security management, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry’s vision isclear — to secure a connected future you can trust.

For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.
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