Mr. John Dimitropoulos reports

BLACKBERRY AND SANS INSTITUTE PARTNER TO BOLSTER CYBERSECURITY SKILLS IN MALAYSIA

BlackBerry Ltd. and the SANS Institute (SANS) today formed a new partnership in Malaysia, offering SANS training courses through the soon-to-be-opened BlackBerry Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (CCoE) in Kuala Lumpur. In an effort to help bolster national cybersecurity capacity in Malaysia, the partnership will offer advanced technology and training to help up-skill Malaysia's cyber defenders, with a particular focus in critical areas like forensics and incident response. Now open for registrations, the SANS Secure Malaysia 2024 inaugural training will take place from March 11 to March 16, and the first featured course will be SEC504: Hacker Tools, Techniques, and Incident Handling.

This new partnership with SANS marks the first major milestone in BlackBerry's landmark cybersecurity deal with the government of Malaysia, announced at the APEC Summit in San Francisco in November, 2023. In addition to Malaysia's deployment of the full suite of trusted BlackBerry cybersecurity solutions, BlackBerry is opening its world-class CCoE in the first half of 2024 in an effort to help Malaysia educate, train and upskill cyber professionals and grow the cybersecurity ecosystem.

Matthias Chia, director of strategy and business development, Asia Pacific, SANS Institute, added: "As a leading provider of cybersecurity education, SANS knows first-hand that training, up-skilling and establishing a culture of continuous learning and innovation is crucial for any nation to build adequate cyber resilience in our complex digital age. We are proud to partner with BlackBerry in Malaysia to offer our globally accredited training programs to help up-skill cyber work forces and enhance technical capabilities among cyber professionals, but also train new students wishing to carve out a career in this exciting field."

In addition to the SANS programs, BlackBerry will offer its own curriculum at the new CCoE, as well as partner with Malaysian Universities and other institutions to offer a wide range of courses, certifications and other programs to help build skilled cybersecurity work forces in Malaysia and across the Indo-Pacific region.

John Dimitropoulos, senior vice-president of strategy, business development and operations, BlackBerry cybersecurity, concluded: "With nearly 40 years' experience in protecting global governments from cyber attacks, espionage and data leaks, BlackBerry has seen global demand for cyber skills and expertise explode, particularly in specialist areas such as machine learning and AI. We are pleased to announce SANS Institute's training courses will be offered through our BlackBerry Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Malaysia, delivering upon our shared goal to establish a globally competitive skills and learning ecosystem in Malaysia and the Indo-Pacific region for years to come."

About BlackBerry Ltd.

BlackBerry provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500 million end points including over 235 million vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ont., the company leverages AI (artificial intelligence) 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 end point security, end point management, encryption and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear -- to secure a connected future you can trust.