Symantec also announced new security and management capabilities for Android and Apple iOS, in addition to existing support for Windows Mobile, Symbian and BlackBerry. New features, including remote wipe, password policy enforcement and device inventory, enable organisations to embrace these new devices while maintaining the security and integrity of corporate information and assets.
“Symantec’s mission is to secure people and information through identity, protection and context, and our broad approach to mobile security and management is a key extension of protection for all of our customers,” said Francis deSouza, senior vice president, enterprise security group, Symantec.
“By providing mobile security and management for smart devices, we’re making it easier for enterprises to allow their employees to use their device of choice without putting corporate data at risk.”
Smartphone usage is growing exponentially, with new mobile device shipments expected to increase by 55% in 2010. In addition, Android and Apple iOS devices are expected to own 31% of global market share by year’s end.
Increasingly the same device is being used for personal use, business use and for accessing entertainment and carrier-provided services. This fundamental shift in behaviour offers tremendous productivity increases but also represents new security and management challenges for three key groups, IT organisations, consumers and communication service providers. Symantec is now to offer all three groups mobile security and management solutions that can scale from just one to millions of users.
Symantec’s solutions for enterprise mobile security and management include: Device Management: Symantec Mobile Management; Device Security: Symantec Endpoint Protection Mobile Edition, Symantec Network Access Control Mobile Edition; Device Encryption: PGP Mobile, PGP Support Package for BlackBerry; Strong Authentication: VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) Access for Mobile, VeriSign Device Certificate Services.
To help consumers, Symantec recently unveiled Norton Everywhere, aimed to take Norton beyond the PC and extend trust to new devices and consumer applications. Norton Everywhere combines Symantec’s consumer security, backup and infrastructure technologies with partners to deliver Norton services to consumers in an entirely new way. This initiative means that consumers can trust the protection of Norton everywhere, across many locations, devices and digital experiences.
Existing offerings under Norton Everywhere include Norton Mobile Security for Android and Norton DNS, which is available for any device from the iPad to game consoles and WiFi routers.
“The explosion of new mobile device platforms into the marketplace and the growing use of these devices for personal and business use has increased the challenge for organizations and individuals to gain a comfortable level of control,” said Stephen Drake, programme vice president for mobility and telecom research at IDC. “Individuals and organisations must take action to secure and manage these devices to ensure their personal and corporate information remain safe.”