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NEW YORK—BlackBerry Ltd. said Tuesday it won a "multimillion-dollar" contract to supply its crisis communication software to the U.S. Senate's chief security service, building on the Canadian company's efforts to reinvent itself as a provider of mobile-security software aimed at government and business customers.

Under the five-year contract, the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms office will use the software to power its emergency mass notification system, used in the event of an attack to alert people working and visiting the U.S. Capitol complex -- including the White House, Senate and Pentagon -- and to coordinate a security response, BlackBerry said.

Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry, which didn't specify the contract's value, said its crisis communication software services more than 3 million U.S. government employees.

"We line up what we believe is the most robust end to end, deepest technology stack in the area of security," BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen told an audience here during the company's annual conference on mobile security.

BlackBerry faces increasing pressure to boost sales of its mobile security software offerings and patents as it struggles to augment software and services revenue with sales of new smartphones. Stung by a 2013 attempt to compete against Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. in the device market, BlackBerry has refocused its attention on developing new handsets aimed at traditional corporate and government customers that emphasize productivity and security.

Still, the total number of phones BlackBerry has sold since its launch in September of the first in a string of new devices dropped to 500,000 at the end of May from 2.1 million at the end of August 2014.

In its latest fiscal quarter, BlackBerry's reported a 39% decline in overall revenue amid slumping handset sales. By contrast, its software and services operations generated a year over year gain of about 3.5% in the same period and BlackBerry has said it expects the segment to generate 30% revenue growth in its current fiscal year.

One challenge BlackBerry's security software business faces is convincing prospective enterprise customers that its technology works across different mobile operating platforms, said Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor known for his efforts to bring down the city's crime rate during his time in office.

Mr. Giuliani, who flew to New York from the Republican Party convention in Cleveland to speak at the BlackBerry conference, said among the fastest-growing forms of crime is the cyberattack, including national security breaches and efforts to steal money, identities and trade secrets. Mr. Giuliani is currently chairman of the cybersecurity, privacy and crisis management practice at law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP.

Mr. Giuliani, who wasn't paid to appear at the BlackBerry event, said the company's security remains untarnished among enterprise customers but that many potential customers still mistakenly believe it only works with BlackBerry phones. BlackBerry has updated all of its mobile security offerings to also work on operating systems offered by Apple, Android and others, as more workers have migrated to rival devices. Mr. Giuliani said after his speech that educating customers on this change remains a hurdle for BlackBerry.

Mr. Giuliani and BlackBerry said they don't currently have a business relationship, but they are in talks to form one.

BlackBerry's optimism for mobile security is fueled by its belief that companies and governments will boost investments to better protect proprietary information and to help guard against rising insurance and other costs. BlackBerry released a survey on Wednesday that found 86% of 1,000 executives polled still worry about potential hacks. The survey, though, also showed that 82% of respondents indicated mobile-security precautions cause some frustrations for employees and could hinder worker productivity, which could pose a potential barrier to winning new business.

Mr. Chen is unfazed, arguing that companies won't have a choice but to invest in cybersecurity amid growing pressure from regulators and governments to protect against financial losses and national security breaches.

"The regulators come in and say (to boards) 'show me your cybersecurity'," said Mr. Chen, who is a director on the boards of BlackBerry, Wells Fargo & Co. and Walt Disney Co.

Write to Ben Dummett at ben.dummett@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 19, 2016 15:35 ET (19:35 GMT)

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