Solution Highlight: BlackBerry Gateway
Editor's note, October 2026: This article was first published in September 2021. In 2022, BlackBerry relaunched the product as CylanceGATEWAY. In February 2025, BlackBerry completed the sale of its Cylance endpoint security assets to Arctic Wolf and now concentrates on secure communications, including BlackBerry UEM, AtHoc and SecuSUITE. Product names, modules and the console described below are therefore no longer current; please check availability with the vendor before planning a deployment. The concept behind the product, Zero Trust Network Access, is still relevant: read Demystifying Security: Zero Trust and Demystifying Security: Conditional Access.
In previous blog posts we discussed newer security approaches like Zero Trust and behavior-based security, which use Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Big Data to prevent attacks before they happen, following the motto "never trust, always verify".
As one of the best-known vendors in mobile security and a major player in cybersecurity, BlackBerry offers BlackBerry Cyber Suite, a Unified Endpoint Security (UES) solution that prevents, detects and responds to threats.
BlackBerry has now added a new product to the suite in response to customers who need secure access to all their resources, on-premises or in the cloud: BlackBerry Gateway.
What is BlackBerry Gateway?
BlackBerry Gateway is a next-generation, VPN-like service that gives users privacy-friendly Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and on-premises corporate resources while improving their network experience.
Shortcomings of VPN in a hybrid world
In the past, organizations hosted all their content and application servers internally, and remote access was gradually added using Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions for desktop and mobile users.
Over the last decade, many organizations have moved their infrastructure to the cloud, some partially (a hybrid environment balancing on-premises and cloud resources), some entirely. The benefits include lower total cost of ownership (TCO), better service availability and easier management. Users benefit too, because they can reach their resources from their preferred device, desktop or mobile, more easily than before.
Moving to the cloud can also create a serious security problem, because technically anyone can try to connect to SaaS applications like Microsoft 365 or Salesforce. Many mechanisms help ensure that only legitimate users get in, for example Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and that they connect from a safe device protected by Mobile Threat Defense (MTD) software. The attack surface is still much larger than when all resources were located internally.
BlackBerry Gateway addresses the need to stay in control of which corporate resources are accessed, by whom, from where and from which device.
How does it work?
BlackBerry Gateway provides a secure connection to private network resources and encrypts all data in transit through a tunnel.
It also continuously evaluates internet destinations using machine learning, IP reputation and risk scoring to maintain an evolving list of malicious ones, and prevents endpoints from connecting to them. Customers do not have to compile and maintain their own blocklist. It also evaluates user behavior continuously and blocks the connection if inconsistent behavior suggests a possible threat.
For SaaS applications, customers can use the vendor's access control policies, where available, to allow access only from endpoints that connect through BlackBerry Gateway. That ensures connections come from authenticated users on secured devices. If needed, BlackBerry can provide a dedicated IP address for each customer tenant to restrict access further.
What does this mean for users?
BlackBerry Gateway offers a VPN-like experience with a light footprint: one app and a one-time enrollment. Users switch Work Mode on with a single click when they need corporate resources and switch it off again afterwards. Traffic is routed automatically, either to the corporate network through BlackBerry's secure network or directly to the internet, which keeps the connection fast and preserves privacy.
Not just for large enterprises
BlackBerry Gateway scales to fit any customer, whether or not they already use other BlackBerry products, from small office/home office (SOHO) setups to Fortune 500 companies.
Integration with other cybersecurity features
BlackBerry Gateway can be used as a standalone product or combined with other BlackBerry Unified Endpoint Security (UES) features such as BlackBerry Protect, BlackBerry Optics and BlackBerry Persona. All of them are managed from one console and work together to provide AI-supported Zero Trust Network Access across networks, endpoints, apps and users.
Employees expect to reach information from anywhere, and that increases the risk of a data breach, whether through user error or malicious actors. BlackBerry Gateway was designed to secure that access without compromising the user experience.
Planning Zero Trust access for your organization? Our endpoint security team will help you find the right approach. Contact us.
