BlackBerry Buys WatchDox File Sharing Security for About $150 Million

Mobile device maker BlackBerry (BBRY) boosted its already formidable security profile by snapping up Palo Alto, CA-based WatchDox, a provider of cross-platform technology to secure shared files and digital rights management.

Neither party revealed terms of the deal but earlier reports placed it in the $100 million to $150 million range.

The deal gives BlackBerry access to WatchDox’s research and development facilities in Israel and helps extend its research to industries where secure collaboration and mobility are critical, such as healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, law, media, as well as BlackBerry’s government stronghold. According to GeekTime, Hollywood studios are one of WatchDox’s major clients, owing, in part, to no one wanting a sequel to the Sony Pictures cyber break-in.

BlackBerry said it will offer WatchDox’s data security technology as a value-added service added to its Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) portfolio available with its mobile OS BES12.

“BlackBerry is constantly expanding the potential of data security so that it enables more collaboration and sharing rather than creating limitations,” said John Chen, BlackBerry executive chairman and chief executive.

“This acquisition represents another key step forward as we transition BlackBerry into the premier platform for secure mobile communications software and applications, supporting all devices and operating systems,” he said.

WatchDox’s technology enables employees to sync and share files across multiple devices and allows enterprise admins to audit viewing, sharing, scanning and printing. WatchDox offers its technology either as a service, a virtual appliance or a hybrid combination.

“The combination of BlackBerry’s security leadership and EMM portfolio with WatchDox technology will bring the most productive and collaborative mobility solution to organizations that need innovative ways to conduct business securely and efficiently,” said Moti Rafalin, WatchDox founder and chief executive.

The WatchDox deal comes only a few months after BlackBerry completed its acquisition of German data theft and anti-eavesdropping solution provider Secusmart. Together, the acquisitions give BlackBerry the “capabilities to secure communications end-to-end from voice, text, messaging, data and now enterprise file-sync-and share,” Chen said.