Sophos announced Social Mobile Control, a mobile device management platform to manage and secure personal mobile devices like Android phones, iPhones and iPads.
Sophos is working on a management console that will allow enterprises to
apply security policies to mobile devices, the company announced Feb. 7.
Enterprises can use the Sophos Mobile Control console to handle password
management or to restrict certain functions, such as cameras, and to control
which applications can access the corporate network, Sophos said. The platform will
secure all mobile devices, including Apple's iOS devices such as the iPad and
iPhone, Android phones and tablets, Windows Mobile products, and Symbian
devices, according to the Sophos.
Sophos Mobile Control works without any agents, the company said. From the
management console, IT managers can define security policies and then apply
them to all mobile devices, Sophos said.
"Sophos Mobile Control is the foundation for providing device and data
protection and security controls in the context they need it," said
Matthias Pankert, head of data protection product management at Sophos.
The
mobile
device management tool allows IT managers to "simply and quickly"
secure, monitor and control the devices connecting to the corporate network in
the same way laptops and desktops are secured, Sophos said.
As more and more employees bring their
personal
mobile devices into the workplace and try to access corporate resources
such as e-mail or view files, IT managers are increasingly under pressure to
secure those devices as well, according to security experts.
Sophos is trying to bridge the "consumerization gap" with a
platform that reduces complexity and burden to corporate IT teams, the company
said.
According to a recent Forrester report, 75 percent of IT executives were
concerned about the security risks associated with mobile devices and
smartphone security. About 40 percent of the executives said they already allow
and support various mobile devices on their network, according to Forrester.
The personal devices pose a
security
risk that IT managers must address in the same manner as corporate-issued
mobile devices, since they both access company data, Sophos said.
Employees are also increasingly becoming more mobile. More than 40 percent
of employees in a given enterprise work outside the corporate headquarters, and
that number can soar as high as 80 percent, according to a Yankee Group report.
In the United States,
businesses with more than 10,000 employees have 50 or more sites, the report
found.
"The definition of a company endpoint is shifting rapidly, and
security
solutions must quickly adapt to provide companies and users the protection
they need without causing undue burden on IT staff and users," said
Pankert.
Security managers can perform a remote over-the-air lock or
wipe
to remove all data from a mobile device if it is lost or stolen. Certain
apps, such as YouTube, can also be restricted from reaching the corporate
network, or the manager could disable certain features, such as the GPS,
Sophos said. Mobile Control allows IT managers to force all mobile users to
pass through a "secure gate" before getting access to corporate
e-mail, Sophos said. The secure gate authenticates only those mobile users
using a device that had already been registered on the platform and are
compliant with the security measures, the company said.
The self-service portal allows end users to register their own devices and
to order a lock or wipe from lost devices. The portal frees up the IT teams
from having to administer the employee devices, Sophos said.
The platform will be generally available sometime in the second quarter of
2011, Sophos said.
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