Mobile security specialist Sophos announced Sophos Mobile Control (SMC) 4.0, an enterprise mobility management (EMM) platform that includes individual file encryption, integrated antivirus (AV) protection and Web filtering.
In addition to file-level encryption, which gates access to each file, to protect the data in the office and on the go, SMC 4.0 also offers integrated security against malware and malicious Websites for Android devices, which are disproportionately prone to Web threats.
With Web protection for Android, IT administrators can select Website categories to control access and block data-stealing or inappropriate Web pages.
The platform also provides integration with the company’s unified threat management (UTM) solutions, Checkpoint and Cisco to provide network access control.
“SMC 4.0 extends the Sophos commitment to delivering comprehensive data protection, offering solutions to manage, secure and protect not just the mobile devices themselves, but also the content and applications on those devices,” Dan Schiappa, senior vice president and general manager of Sophos’ end-user security group, said in a statement. “SMC 4.0 takes data protection beyond the office door by ensuring persistent mobile encryption on devices. Additional network access control based on device compliance status makes mobile device management, content management and mobile security simple and effective.”
In addition, a Web-based management console allows IT administrators to provide their users with a self-service portal to change passwords, register devices and report lost or stolen devices.
“The rapid shift to more flexible and increasingly mobile working patterns has led to widespread adoption (with or without the consent of IT) of file-sync and -share services as users seek to store and collaborate on shared content,” Chris Hazelton, research director for mobile and wireless at 451 Research, said in a statement. “This ‘any device, any cloud’ trend will only continue, so organizations face an increased risk of losing sensitive corporate data if they don’t deploy encryption and data loss protection tools. The integration of these data security tools into EMM provides companies with a simple deployment option that should resonate well with the SMB market.”
The number of unique pieces of mobile malware seen by SophosLabs has now reached almost 900,000 and is growing rapidly, the company said.
The vast majority (84 percent) of organizations allow some level of access from company-issued devices to cloud-based file share services such as Dropbox. However, 65 percent of respondents do not currently encrypt data between the cloud and mobile devices, according to a Sophos survey of more than 725 IT professionals.
Surprisingly, just 38 percent of survey respondents said they felt secure sharing corporate files or collaborating on corporate content between the cloud and mobile devices.