BlackBerry has announced that BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 and BlackBerry 10 smartphones have been the first to be approved by NATO for classified communications up to the level of “Restricted”.

The certification allows agencies in NATO countries in all 28 member states across North America and Europe to use BlackBerry 10 smartphones in the office or in the field.

“We built the new BlackBerry 10 platform from the ground up with the highest security needs of our government and enterprise customers in mind,” said Scott Totzke, Senior Vice President of Security at BlackBerry. “The fact that BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 and BlackBerry 10 smartphones have been approved for classified communications just months after debut, is testament to the thoroughness of its design and our commitment to our defense and government customers.”

BlackBerry said that the NATO certification is a significant milestone for BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10. It provides assurance to security-conscious organizations, including government agencies, companies in regulated industries and other organizations dealing with sensitive information, that data handled by BlackBerry 10 smartphones is strongly secured and encrypted. BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 integrates end-to-end security, and uses AES 256-bit, the highest encryption level of the standard, for data at rest and data in transit.