Effective government requires coordination, communication and cooperation. Even seemingly simple events, such as construction projects or community gatherings, require multiagency coordination to ensure smooth implementation and public safety. All this communication must be done securely to protect against outside threats and meet local and federal compliance laws. 

This need only amplifies when a crisis strikes, along with another concern: speed and alignment.

Weather disasters, fires, active shooters — governments often face these and other unforeseen circumstances where even a slight response delay can lead to massive fiscal consequences and put the lives of community members at risk. 

BlackBerry Secure Communications Emergency Sector Lead and Former Greater Manchester Police Superintendent Chris Ullah puts it bluntly in a recent webinar: “In a crisis, time really is everything. The longer it takes to get organized, the more you're playing catch up and you end up with frustrated officers and responders, worried communities and sometimes real safety risks as well."

Secure communication and critical event management (CEM) aren’t separate concerns. State and local officials need a solution compatible across devices that ensures the security of day-to-day operations and scales to meet the unique needs of modern disaster response.

Developing a Holistic Secure Communications Strategy

While encryption tends to be top of mind when city leaders think of secure communications, there’s quite a bit more to it than that. To better understand the need for comprehensive data encryption, consider identity theft. A potential victim receives a bank statement in the mail. Careful about security, they shred the statement when finished with it.

But they discard the envelope.

With just the information on that envelope, a potential thief gains vital information they can use to begin a potentially devastating process.

With government communications, current content encryption standards are often the equivalent of shredding the bank statement but not the envelope. The information on the envelope represents metadata.

Without messaging metadata encryption, malicious actors can exploit digital footprints that include the “who, when, where and how often” of government communications. This technique is already in use by foreign actors.

Encrypted messages are only the first step toward true security for state and local agencies. BlackBerry Secure Communications encrypts metadata, offers robust identity verification capabilities and includes hardened endpoint device protections. These features keep communication patterns and identities hidden, which, in turn, keeps crisis management operations secure.

The Importance of Control and Digital Sovereignty

Another rising security concern for government employees is digital sovereignty. Digital sovereignty is about control — who owns and governs your data. When communications move through foreign clouds or networks, governments risk exposure. Truly secure communication ensures data never leaves national control, whether sent from a city hall or a police headquarters abroad.

Scaling Your System to Meet a Crisis

Data ownership is only one part of security. In addition, every crisis stress-tests communications systems. Delays put lives at risk. 

During any critical event, there are three stages of response: 

• Preparedness. According to a report co-produced by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, every $1 spent in disaster preparedness saves $13. Preparing for critical events means setting custom plans for different scenarios, assuring interagency readiness and being able to execute plans within seconds. Even the smallest delays can increase the severity of outcomes.
• Real-time response. To coordinate response, your system should provide real-time insights into asset positions and safety, the ability to target communications (and verify receipt), and large data transmission and dissemination are critical to making better decisions.
• Post-incident recovery. Once an incident ends, systems need to return to normal in an orderly manner. Full, auditable data trails for response analysis and compliance are also vital.

A comprehensive and strategic approach is critical during moments of chaos. It ensures readiness to face any situation without compromising the vital security measures established in normal operations.

BlackBerry Secure Communications for State and Local Governments

Several consumer apps on the market advertise encryption capabilities, and many state and local government officials feel safe using them for official business because of these claims. Unfortunately, encryption alone is not enough to provide true Secure Communications. These apps may be easy to use, but they also introduce numerous vulnerabilities that bad actors looking for access to government information can exploit. 

BlackBerry Secure Communications solves these problems for state and local government officials with its three-prong approach to communications security.

BlackBerry SecuSUITE: The Ultimate in Secure Communication

Unlike those consumer apps, BlackBerry SecuSUITE takes security a step further. SecuSUITE encrypts both content and metadata while still allowing workers to use the mobile devices they are comfortable with. SecuSUITE verifies all members of a chat and will not run on any devices that have been rooted or jailbroken, ensuring messages are only received by the people they were meant for.

BlackBerry AtHoc Makes CEM More Intuitive

Another key component of BlackBerry Secure Communications, BlackBerry AtHoc, streamlines communication through every stage of crisis response, providing state and local officials with:

• Automated workflows that allow faster deployment and immediate emergency notifications to be broadcast to the public.
• Precise, two-way messaging that facilitates communication via SMS, email, voice, desktop alerts and mobile apps in 19 different languages.
• Down-to-the-second confirmation of message delivery, allowing command of a single source of truth that updates in real time.
• Geotagging and geolocation for real-time insights into personnel positions, allowing targeted messaging to and from assets on the ground.
• Post-incident workflows to guarantee a smooth return to normal operations.
• Comprehensive audit information, ensuring compliance and allowing for thorough after-action review and analysis of the response.

“We must be able to immediately connect across personnel and partners,” says Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes of the Greater Manchester Police, a long-time user of the BlackBerry Secure Communications. “BlackBerry AtHoc has helped us achieve that, allowing us to operate with far greater coordination and ultimately making us more effective as a police force.”

BlackBerry’s Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) Adds an Extra Layer of Security and Compliance

The final component of Secure Communications, BlackBerry UEM, then ensures the security and compliance of all devices, regardless of the fragmented nature of modern endpoint usage. 

Secure Communications Governments Trust

Encryption, sovereignty and scale are three pillars of an effective secure communication solution. There’s also a fourth pillar: Trust.

BlackBerry has achieved both FedRAMP High and GovRAMP certification, and its trusted solution is currently being used by:

• All seven G7 nations
• 18 of 20 G20 nations
• Eight of 10 global banks

Governments at all levels need communications systems they can trust. 

To see how you can improve crisis management and communication security in your local or state government organization, head to BlackBerry Secure Communications for more information.