TAFA partners with BlackBerry to strengthen cybersecurity offering for SMBs

TAFA Holdings (S) Pte Ltd., a cybersecurity consulting company based in Singapore, announced a distribution agreement with BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) that will enable wider availability of BlackBerry cybersecurity solutions and services for organizations in ASEAN countries.

Available on a monthly subscription, small and medium businesses now have access to enterprise-grade cybersecurity and round-the-clock support at a fraction of the cost, thanks to BlackBerry’s shared service model.

Under the agreement, TAFA will offer the full BlackBerry Cyber Suite, including CylancePROTECT, CylanceOPTICS, and CylanceGUARD, as a 24/7 managed Extended Detection and Response (XDR) service. TAFA’s technical engineers will be fully trained and certified by BlackBerry, enabling them to deliver expert and specialized support to businesses in the region.

The news comes as Singapore’s Cybersecurity Services Regulation Office (CSRO) approved a license for TAFA Holdings to provide a Managed Security Operations Centre (SOC) Monitoring Service under its new licensing framework, which took effect in April 2022, ensuring the highest level of trust for customers in the region seeking managed cybersecurity services.

The new partnership brings together TAFA’s extensive network and BlackBerry’s suite of intelligent security solutions powered by Cylance AI to help organizations protect end-points and data from malware and data breaches.

In addition to BlackBerry’s end-point protection, detection, and response tools (EPP and EDR), CylanceGUARD’s XDR capability helps to address cyber-skills shortages faced by many organizations today.

It offers access to trained threat prevention experts and AI-enabled tools on a subscription-based model, saving time and resources for businesses with lean or non-existent in-house security teams.

“As organizations across ASEAN grapple with heightened cyber threats against data, end-points, and infrastructure, traditional signature-based solutions struggle to address the scale of vulnerabilities and severity of attacks,” said Wee Ah Kee, CEO of TAFA. “By expanding our offering with BlackBerry’s smart, AI-based machine learning and external security teams, we can further help customers of any size improve their security posture with a prevention-first approach.”

BlackBerry’s 2022 threat report showed that malicious cyber actors are increasingly employing ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) and malware-as-a-service (MaaS) tools to execute high-impact attacks. While no organization is immune to a cybersecurity breach, SMEs are facing upwards of 11 to 13 cyber attacks per device per day – higher than larger enterprises.

In the Philippines, where SMBs form the backbone of the economy, digitalization of commerce and the shift to work-from-home is exposing the nation to unparalleled threats, requiring cybersecurity to be an urgent priority for business owners.

 “We are excited to announce BlackBerry is partnering with TAFA, to help more companies in ASEAN protect against the scourge of cyber threats. By leveraging BlackBerry's seventh-generation AI engine and on-demand cybersecurity experts, organizations can both prevent threats and address IT security skills gaps – so they can get on with running their business," adds Graeme Pyper, director, Channel Partner and Alliances, APAC, BlackBerry.

TAFA is proud to partner with HAFA Asia Corporation to provide managed cybersecurity services that help businesses of all sizes achieve Total Security Compliance.

MSMEs are encouraged to attend a webinar on cybersecurity. To register, visit this link.

For information about BlackBerry Cyber Suite, visit its website here. To download a copy of the 2022 BlackBerry Threat Report, click here. For information about TAFA, visit tafaholdings.sg.

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Editor’s Note: This article was provided by TAFA Holdings.