Silent Circle's Blackphone has been inducted into the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.
The device is now part of the museum's Weapons of Mass Disruption gallery, which highlights 21st Century intelligence challenges and the threat of cyberwar. According to Spy Museum curator Dr. Vince Houghton, the exhibit is meant to convey "how dangerous modern technology can be in the wrong hands."
"Today, a common laptop or smartphone can be converted into a cyber weapon," he said in a statement. "However, they can also be developed for privacy protection. Devices such a Blackphone allow people, and businesses, to safeguard against these threats."
Blackphone was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in February 2014, with the promise of Fort Knox-like protection. The $629 phone went on sale last summer, quickly selling out in the pre-order stage.
The unlocked phone supports GSM, LTE, and HSDPA, and maximizes user privacy via features like private communications, Wi-Fi security, remote wipe and protect, anonymous Web browsing and VPN, and private cloud storage.
Its security comes from two separate places: the custom-built Android 4.4-based PrivatOS, and a collection of third-party security services. Together, they allow for encrypted voice and video calls and text messages, the ability to control the phone's data from anywhere in the world, and access to files saved in a private encrypted cloud service.
"Blackphone was not only game-changing for Silent Circle," CEO Bill Conner said in a statement. "The device completely disrupted an industry that for too long overlooked the need to protect enterprise data and privacy."
Silent Circle's handset was also recently put on display in London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
"The fact that such venerable institutions consider Blackphone to be a key piece of modern history speaks to the incredible importance of privacy," Conner said.