[Chuck Finley69]

With the recent upswing, selling the amount of shares of your last purchase or at least the dollar amount is how you offset losses. Unless you know how to write calls against your shares properly...

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

JC on LinkedIn:

#DidYouKnow BlackBerry is a #leader in detecting malicious activity and correctly assigning it to specific tactics, according to the MITRE ATT&CK evaluation?

Sounds good....

But BlackBerry pulled data from one detection type at one step in the evaluation, that made them look good... most in IT would look at the whole test series.

https://attackevals.mitre.org/evalua...ml?round=APT29

[FeitaInc]

Sounds good....

But BlackBerry pulled data from one detection type at one step in the evaluation, that made them look good... most in IT would look at the whole test series.

https://attackevals.mitre.org/evalua...ml?round=APT29

So half empty or half empty? Let's not grab defeat from the jaws of if not victory, then at least them excelling in one of the criteria. If you do well in one thing, then you lead with that.

[FeitaInc]

Sounds good....

But BlackBerry pulled data from one detection type at one step in the evaluation, that made them look good... most in IT would look at the whole test series.

https://attackevals.mitre.org/evalua...ml?round=APT29

it just struck me that I approached that answer the wrong way. a better way could be:

say what? do you think IT likes to read? they barely read my Helpdesk request. :P

[Corbu]

Facebook, Inc. v. BlackBerry Limited (4:18-cv-05434)
https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/...1602.123.0.pdf

Defendants BlackBerry Limited and BlackBerry Corporation (collectively, “BlackBerry”)hereby notify the Court that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued a decision on June 4, 2020granting BlackBerry’s ex parte reexamination request No. 90/014,503, and thereby orderingreexamination of U.S. Pat. No. 7,228,432. A true and correct copy of the Order Granting Request forEx Parte Reexamination is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

[Exhibit A not accessible.]

[Corbu]

JC
World Digital Summit 2020
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZ...n_cid=SPTMG002

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

JC
World Digital Summit 2020
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZ...n_cid=SPTMG002

"He said he is spending a lot of time on 5G research and said, "I want to cherish how to operate the infrastructure safely.""

Locking down communications... is going to become more and more important.

[IMABBeliever]

"He said he is spending a lot of time on 5G research and said, "I want to cherish how to operate the infrastructure safely.""

Locking down communications... is going to become more and more important.

According to this guy, https://www.schneier.com/essays/arch...the_only_.html , security with 5g is broken from the get go. I read the article with the feeling that the security we want only exists for **some** agencies. For the world at large, we just get the illusion.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

According to this guy, https://www.schneier.com/essays/arch...the_only_.html , security with 5g is broken from the get go. I read the article with the feeling that the security we want only exists for **some** agencies. For the world at large, we just get the illusion.

I try to make sure that I'm not too interesting to anyone working for a government alphabet agency.

But in the end..... the Government being able to read a terrorist's communications, is just a much a part of "security" as me knowing that no one can intercept my wife's grocery list. But the problem is, what happens when your government is not someone you trust?

[Hazo]

I'm not complaining, but even following the BlackBerry news, I can't put a finger on the latest pop in share price...thoughts?

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I'm not complaining, but even following the BlackBerry news, I can't put a finger on the latest pop in share price...thoughts?

I think more believe the rumors, and don't believe FairFax's denial.

[BanffMoose]

I try to make sure that I'm not too interesting to anyone working for a government alphabet agency.

But in the end..... the Government being able to read a terrorist's communications, is just a much a part of "security" as me knowing that no one can intercept my wife's grocery list. But the problem is, what happens when your government is not someone you trust?

Who do you fear more, government alphabet agencies or completely unregulated business interests? The later seems more scary for the average person.

[Corbu]

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...301069197.html

WATERLOO, Ontario, June 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) will hold its Annual Meeting of Shareholders virtually, on Tuesday, June 23, 2020 at 1pm ET. The live audio webcast can be accessed at https://web.lumiagm.com/254044781.

A replay of the meeting will be available at https://www.blackberry.com/us/en/company/investors.

[EchoTango]

According to this guy, https://www.schneier.com/essays/arch...the_only_.html , security with 5g is broken from the get go. I read the article with the feeling that the security we want only exists for **some** agencies. For the world at large, we just get the illusion.

According to Edward Snowden, the NSA etc. can read anything and everything and only requires a target to search for. According to him, the government runs huge metadata dump facilities which have pipes that constantly updates the pile. The real trick is to have a tool that searches, collates and formats the data so it makes sense, which of course they have.

I very much doubt the US Intelligence community would allow a technology to be deployed that curtails this capability, all the while paradoxically accusing the Chinese of doing the very same thing.

Sometimes this stuff gets really childish but oh so amusing.

[Seadog83]

I think more believe the rumors, and don't believe FairFax's denial.

I don't pretend to know the finer points of corporate law, but have a hard time believing that would be anything close to legal.

Have your corporate lawyers issue a statement to one end, and then a month later just say "JK lol, we were working on a buy out the whole time! We just issued the denial because it was in our financial interest to lie"

[Corbu]

PR:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...301073361.html

[Chuck Finley69]

I don't pretend to know the finer points of corporate law, but have a hard time believing that would be anything close to legal.

Have your corporate lawyers issue a statement to one end, and then a month later just say "JK lol, we were working on a buy out the whole time! We just issued the denial because it was in our financial interest to lie"

I’d say both of you are correct. Fairfax could be aligned with a friendly third party who’s actually involved. The statement was concisely worded and seemed rather odd. Fairfax (Prem Watsa) and BlackBerry have a long history with regulators and playing right inside legal and ethical boundaries.

I’ve said it before, look at how Berkshire Hathaway operates and it’s bear hug techniques.

[Corbu]

PR:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...301073655.html
BlackBerry to Announce First Quarter Fiscal Year 2021 Results on June 24, 2020

WATERLOO, ON, June 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) will report results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 at 5:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, June 24, 2020. The conference call can be accessed by dialing +1-877-682-6267 or live streamed on the company's website at BlackBerry.com/Investors.

A replay of the conference call will be available at approximately 8 p.m. ET on June 24, 2020, by dialing +1-800-585-8367 and entering Conference ID #5177627. It will also be available at the link above.

[Corbu]

PR:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...301074035.html
BlackBerry AtHoc Expands Leadership Position in Crisis Communications with U.S. Federal Government; Includes the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

https://blogs.blackberry.com/en/2020...nment-agencies

[Corbu]

BB – Scotiabank: Expecting IoT Headwinds from Pandemic

OUR TAKE: Negative. Our expectation is that Blackberry's Q1 results will provide the first opportunity to hear from the firm how it is working to assist clients globally in responding to the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses. Blackberry will report its Q1 results on June 24 with a conference call at 5:30 p.m., dial-in +1-800-585-8367, 5177627. We believe the key focus heading into Q1 will be on the magnitude of the impact of COVID-19 on the company's operations (e.g., sales force, operational changes, and product release schedule), and (2) the trajectory of design wins at QNX. In the quarter we expect a decline in Blackberry's BTS business given the slowdown in its automotive vertical with an offset from new EMM and Cylance sales as customers focus on work from home and security.
We continue to see Blackberry as holding potential in terms of various areas of the business (e.g., security software, QNX) along with having the balance sheet to weather the current storm. However, we would need to see a material improvement in the firm's performance within its ESS and Cylance businesses to become more constructive on the shares.
KEY POINTS Work from home support demand for EMM software. We view the widespread work from home arrangements as a long-term positive for Blackberry’s UEM business. As various companies around the world shift to extended or semi-permanent work from home models, we believe customers are likely to see increasing importance in endpoint security and data protection solutions. Our expectation is that in the near-term clients will have focused on securing additional licenses as employees quickly transitioned to a remote work environment.
AtHoc to see ongoing increased demand. We believe that Blackberry’s AtHoc emergency communications software is expected to see positive traction as governments and corporations purchase licenses for the software in order to improve communications as the health crisis and nationwide unrest evolve. However recent commentary from competitors in crisis management software market indicate an increase in competitive pressure as larger technology firms work to enter the market.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

BB – Scotiabank: Expecting IoT Headwinds from Pandemic

OUR TAKE: Negative. Our expectation is that Blackberry's Q1 results will provide the first opportunity to hear from the firm how it is working to assist clients globally in responding to the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses. Blackberry will report its Q1 results on June 24 with a conference call at 5:30 p.m., dial-in +1-800-585-8367, 5177627. We believe the key focus heading into Q1 will be on the magnitude of the impact of COVID-19 on the company's operations (e.g., sales force, operational changes, and product release schedule), and (2) the trajectory of design wins at QNX. In the quarter we expect a decline in Blackberry's BTS business given the slowdown in its automotive vertical with an offset from new EMM and Cylance sales as customers focus on work from home and security.
We continue to see Blackberry as holding potential in terms of various areas of the business (e.g., security software, QNX) along with having the balance sheet to weather the current storm. However, we would need to see a material improvement in the firm's performance within its ESS and Cylance businesses to become more constructive on the shares.
KEY POINTS Work from home support demand for EMM software. We view the widespread work from home arrangements as a long-term positive for Blackberry’s UEM business. As various companies around the world shift to extended or semi-permanent work from home models, we believe customers are likely to see increasing importance in endpoint security and data protection solutions. Our expectation is that in the near-term clients will have focused on securing additional licenses as employees quickly transitioned to a remote work environment.
AtHoc to see ongoing increased demand. We believe that Blackberry’s AtHoc emergency communications software is expected to see positive traction as governments and corporations purchase licenses for the software in order to improve communications as the health crisis and nationwide unrest evolve. However recent commentary from competitors in crisis management software market indicate an increase in competitive pressure as larger technology firms work to enter the market.

One good thing, BlackBerry is small enough that even marginal sucess of work from home could be Huge for them, and cover the Automotive declines, IP declines and possible UEM declines.

[Corbu]

BofA

BlackBerry

1Q preview: expect a weak start to the year; lowering estimates into results

Reiterate Rating: NEUTRAL | PO: 5.50 USD | Price: 5.03 USD

Trim estimates in 1H21 on added COVID-19 impact

We preview Blackberry’s 1Q21 results, scheduled for June 24. Blackberry reported a 12% YoY decline in its core IoT segment in 4Q20 (quarter end in Feb) as COVID-19 began to negatively impact the business. Given the impact likely picked up in the fiscal 1Q21, we expect an exceptionally weak start to the year and cut our estimates. Positively, management characterizes the QNX weakness as temporary due to delays rather than lost revenue. We also see potential for Athoc to continue to grow in relevance in the current environment. The relative valuation also remains supportive as the peer group has re-rated higher, and we raise our PO from $5 to $5.50 now based on roughly 3x our CY21 EV/S (vs 2.5x prior) to better reflect the market environment; reiterate Neutral.

QNX pain may extend well into 1Q21

We cut our 1Q revenue/EPS estimates to $221mn/-2c, now more in-line with the Street’s $217mn/-2c (see P.3). The changes include shifting more Licensing strength to 2H21 and cutting our QNX growth. Specifically, QNX is suffering from COVID-19-related headwinds, as two major customers paused activity. Management attributed the weakness to developer seats and royalty revenues which are now delayed, but likely not lost. We see risk that such customers suffered production shut downs in 1Q, and we now model our IoT segment sales down 22% YoY as a result. Positively, Blackberry continues to win new high-end designs – an area where investors will likely welcome an update.

Enterprise turnaround likely tough in current environment

Blackberry is also working its way through a turnaround in its Enterprise software segment. Though sequential trends stabilized in 2H20, 1Q usually brings a steep seasonal decline and we see risk to Street estimates at $76mn vs our $71mn. Work from home exposure may be a bright spot, but the related free trials likely convert to revenue more in 2Q. Athoc crisis communications has been enhanced and is more in focus, though we estimate it represents <5% of total sales. Lastly, we see Endpoint security sales improving on telecommute trends which may help Cylance return to QoQ growth.

[...]

Company Description

BlackBerry has transitioned from a mobile hardware provider to a mobile-focused security software and services company. Its portfolio of products includes BlackBerry Secure Unified Endpoint Management, crisis communication, corporate asset tracking, cyber security services, endpoint security, and other secure collaboration software and communication technologies. The company also licenses its brand/IP for mobile devices and its QNX business provides leading embedded software systems.

Investment Rationale

In our view, BlackBerry's low organic growth profile and participation in highly competitive markets pose risks, but such concerns are now well reflected in the valuation. We believe higher growth trends in QNX and Cylance may begin to help the turnaround over time. The positives and valuation support, however, are balanced with the competitive risks, execution risks, and current share losses.

Price objective basis & risk

Our $5.50 PO is based on roughly 3x EV/S on our CY21 sales estimate. This multiple is roughly in line with other low growth/challenged software/services companies and supported by our sum-of-parts valuation. Downside risks to our PO are: 1) Slowdown in the cyber security or enterprise software market due to macroeconomic weakness, 2) Margin pressure from Licensing decline and low software growth, 3) Competitive risks from Apple, Google (Android), Samsung, VMware, Microsoft, and more, 4) Increased investment required to support new products, and 5) Security breach and reputational risk. Upside risks to our price objective are: 1) Success of new customer wins and product launches, 2) Restructuring efforts, asset sales, or transformative M&A, 3) large unexpected IP deals.

[rarsen]

General information on technologies:

Top 10 emerging technologies of 2020: Winners and losers
https://www.techrepublic.com/article...&cid=716503125

[rarsen]

Another tempting honeypot:

Ransomware: Hackers took just three days to find this fake industrial network and fill it with malware
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransom...&cid=716503125
Note: A local IT police officer once told me of a honeypot set-up regarding access to kids, hacker reaction was within seconds.

[Corbu]

PR:
https://www.newswire.ca/news-release...825499241.html
S&P Dow Jones Indices Announces Changes to the S&P/TSX Composite Index and S&P/TSX 60 Index

BB deleted from S&P/TSX 60 INDEX – June 22, 2020