BlackBerry Announces Executive Leadership Promotions

WATERLOO, Ontario, Oct. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) has expanded its executive bench with the promotions of BlackBerry Cylance Vice President John McClurg to BlackBerry Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Christopher Hummel, BlackBerry Vice President of IT and Business Application Solutions to BlackBerry Chief Information Officer (CIO), effective October 26, 2019.  Both McClurg and Hummel will report directly to John Chen, BlackBerry Executive Chairman and CEO.

As CISO, McClurg will lead all aspects of BlackBerry's information security program globally, ensuring the development and implementation of cybersecurity policies and procedures across all divisions and corporate functions. McClurg will be responsible for identifying, evaluating and reporting on information security risks to the executive team, and serve as a company evangelist of best practices in cybersecurity.

McClurg brings a diverse background of academic, government, and business experience to his new role. He joined Cylance in July 2016 from Dell where he served as Chief Security Officer.  Previous to Dell, John held senior positions with Honeywell International (as VP of Global Security), Lucent Technologies/Bell Laboratories, the U.S. Intelligence Community, the Department of Energy (charged with establishing a Cyber-Counterintelligence program), the FBI (as Supervisory Special Agent) and the CIA (as Deputy Branch Chief).  McClurg has supported the missions of numerous agencies including those of the DOD and DOE, battling cybercrime, terrorism, and espionage.  McClurg holds a J.D. degree from Brigham Young University, an MA in Organizational Behavior, BS and BA degrees in University Studies and Philosophy from Brigham Young, and advanced doctoral studies in Philosophical Hermeneutics at UNC-Chapel Hill and UCLA.  

As CIO, Hummel will serve as a transformational leader within BlackBerry, responsible for providing insights to the executive leadership on key technological innovations, ensuring IT considerations drive key initiatives across the company, and maintaining the highest level of enterprise security and employee privacy.

Hummel brings over 20 years of IT leadership experience that includes service delivery, project management, network integration, and new business development across international locations to the CIO role.  He has proven expertise in the design and implementation of cost-effective enterprise and wireless solutions with the functionality, flexibility and scalability to meet the needs of large organizations and carrier customers with sophisticated user and client demands.  Hummel joined BlackBerry in August 2012.

"These promotions recognize the impact of John and Christopher's outstanding leadership in their respective roles," Chen added.  "With their skills and expertise, they will continue to work closely with me and the rest of the executive team to ensure continuity and growth across our business."

About BlackBerry
BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) is a trusted security software and services company that provides enterprises and governments with the technology they need to secure the Internet of Things. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company is unwavering in its commitment to safety, cybersecurity and data privacy, and leads in key areas such as artificial intelligence, endpoint security and management, encryption and embedded systems. For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.

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SOURCE BlackBerry Limited