Security risk intelligence firm Rapid7 announced the acquisition of mobile device management solutions specialist Mobilisafe, in an effort to bring its risk management portfolio into the growing bring your own device market. Mobilisafe’s cloud-based risk management solution will be integrated into Rapid7’s existing security assessment and management solutions, Nexpose and Metasploit, which are designed to help organizations gain visibility into the threats, manage and prioritize risk, and take action to improve security.
Mobilisafe, founded in 2010, helps defenders manage the risk associated with mobile devices through visibility, management and action, providing insight into specific device attributes including name, model, manufacturer, operating system type and version, along with each device’s connection history, vulnerability mapping to identify devices susceptible to emerging risks through a TrustScore for every device employees use and defining and deploying policies that easily mitigate mobile risk, such as blocking devices with a low TrustScore from accessing the network or wiping all data from lost devices.
“We created Mobilisafe in response to the security challenges organizations face with BYOD,” Mobilisafe co-founder and CEO Giri Sreenivas, said in a statement. “Rapid7 is already helping organizations address security risks with a simple approach that enables defenders to identify relevant threats and prioritize remediation and mitigation efforts. This approach is totally in-line with our own view. We’re impressed with the market position and customer focus the company has built. It’s exciting to combine forces to help customers simplify their security needs, regardless of device.”
Mobilisafe’s mobile risk management solution is currently available from Rapid7 with pricing is on a per user basis. From now through the end of the year introductory pricing is set at $24 per user per year with an annual contract or $3 per user per month. The company is also offering a free 14-day trial. A study conducted by Mobilisafe revealed that 71 percent of mobile devices contained high severity vulnerabilities, while IT departments are growing more concerned with security issues as BYOD initiatives expand.
“The trend of BYOD highlights one of the greatest challenges organizations face in security, which is identifying all the devices being used to access corporate data, and understanding the associated threats so they can be mitigated,” Rapid7 CEO Mike Tuchen said in a statement. “With the acquisition of Mobilisafe, Rapid7 addresses this challenge, providing visibility of mobile devices and enabling organizations to manage their risk and take mitigating action. This builds on our existing expertise in managing IT risk across on-premise, cloud and virtual assets.”
Another recent report sponsored by cloud security specialist Trend Micro and conducted by Osterman Research found as small businesses continue to adopt BYOD policies, these organizations are potentially opening themselves up to security breaches. These attacks often translate into down time or hours wasted trying to secure the network or device: Osterman Research found that it takes a mean elapsed time of 72 minutes to remediate a single endpoint, and 5.2 percent of IT staff time during a typical week is spent on email security management.
