Data protection solutions provider Acronis and Apple enterprise integration specialist Thursby Software announced the delivery of a mobile file management solution (MFM) to include Common Access Card (CAC) and Personal Identity Verification (PIV) authentication for federal government compliance with the HSPD-12 standard on mobile devices.
Based on the Acronis mobilEcho MFM solution and PKard from Thursby Software, the platform is aimed at enabling federal organizations to improve mobile users’ productivity while maintaining control over data security and compliance.
In May, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) approved the use of government-issued Apple iOS6 mobile devices, as part of its effort to enable the secure use of a diverse selection of devices and operating systems.
A key objective of the organization’s Commercial Mobile Device Implementation Plan (CMDIP) is to establish a department-wide mobile enterprise solution that permits the use of cutting-edge commercial technology such as smartphones and tablets, and the development of an enterprise mobile device management capability and application store to support approximately 100,000 multivendor devices by February 2014.
“We now have the mobile file management solution our customers in government agencies asked for: CAC/PIV authentication, FIPS 140-2 validated encryption, and read and write access to file servers, network attached storage and SharePoint, with built-in document editing to stop data leakage,” Anders Lofgren, vice president of product management at Acronis, said in a statement. “Acronis mobilEcho, combined with the solutions from our technology partner Thursby, sets a new standard for IT professionals to provide the most secure access to documents using mobile devices in the government industry.”
The Acronis and Thursby platform, which also complies with other federal standards such as FIPS 140-2 encryption, authenticates and verifies the identity of government employees before allowing them access to critical documents on a mobile device, and is available through Apple’s App Store.
The combination of CAC and PIV authentication and mobilEcho’s file access and editing capabilities is now in a position to offer IT departments at federal agencies and the Department of Defense (DoD) the ability to enable their employees to access files, browse the web, and check email on Apple’s iPhones and iPads.
“With an emphasis on simple and straightforward data management, strong authentication, and encryption, this combined solution from Thursby and Acronis allows for increased productivity without sacrificing security,” Bill Thursby, president and founder of Thursby Software Systems, said in a statement. “This suite of tools is ideally suited for IT professionals in the federal space and at the DoD that want to maintain tough security standards, but also provide the best possible tools for their employees to get their jobs done.”