A company forever associated with the once ubiquitous cell phone has dropped a stark hint: It suggests it may be involved in top-secret collaboration with the CIA and FBI.

In a recent quarterly earnings call, Blackberry said interest in its secure communications technology has increased due to rising geopolitical tensions in the world.

Although Blackberry no longer manufactures the many buttons on the smartphone nicknamed “Crackberry” because of its addictive nature, the company now focuses on business areas such as cybersecurity and Internet of Things (IoT) technology, offering an operating system called QNX that is used in over 235 million vehicles around the world.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, IoT revenue reached a “quarterly record of $66 million” — up 25% year over year — and cybersecurity revenue rose to $92 million, up 5%. Overall, the company’s annual revenue was $853 million, including $218 million from the sale of legacy patents.

During Blackberry’s recent quarterly earnings call, CEO John Giamatteo spoke about the growing demand for its SecuSmart technology, which provides “highly secure voice and messaging for iOS and Android devices.”

“The SecuSmart portfolio is all about secure communications, whether it’s text, data or voice, and it’s no longer just on a BlackBerry device,” he said. “Now it runs on all of our iOS devices. Now it runs on all of our Android devices.”

Giamatteo added: “Our largest customers are nine of the 10 largest banks in the world. Our largest customers are 18 of the G20 countries in the world that use this comprehensive, secure communications capability in some form.”

Giamatteo went on to talk about simmering global conflicts, which inevitably increase the demand for secure communications systems, and hinted at possible cooperation with the secret services.

“When war breaks out around the world, it’s unfortunately a regrettable thing,” he added. “But defense contractors benefit from it because (the military) needs more secure communications capabilities.”

“So we’ve seen a lot more interest in this SecuSmart technology over the last year or two. It’s the most advanced encryption technology that exists on the planet. Literally, this is the CIA, the FBI, the defense. This is the most advanced technology.”

Blackberry’s reputation for robust communications security has long led to speculation that the system is used by secret groups, from secret agents to drug cartel leaders.

Robert Bigman, former CISO at the Central Intelligence Agency, previously told NBC News that the CIA and FBI use BlackBerry for email and message encryption.

“One of the benefits of BBM is that each message is individually encrypted with a unique key,” he said. “Another nice feature that (drug lord) El Chapo must have liked is the privacy of the message registration. You don’t have to provide or exchange phone numbers or names when registering for the service.”

We have asked Blackberry for comment.