BlackBerry is doing slightly less terribly now, thanks to the U.S. Department of Defense

When last we checked in on BlackBerry, the company was hemorrhaging money and alienating celebrities—but you know what happens when something hits rock bottom? It bounces. Bloomberg reports that the Waterloo-based smartphone maker saw its stock price surge 8.2 per cent on Monday following news that the U.S. Department of Defense would be adding about 80,000 BlackBerry phones to its system. Apparently Apple and Google are still having trouble meeting the Pentagon’s strict security specifications, leaving the DoD with few viable options. “The last resort of the security-obsessed” isn’t a great marketing slogan, but it is, at least, a good business niche.