Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) has introduced a new mobile security and management strategy, and has released three new software solutions to help businesses better secure and protect their mobile devices.
Khoi Nguyen, group product manager at Symantec, said the company has integrated its mobile security solutions into its general management platform that manages PCs, laptops and servers.
”Businesses need to secure and manage their devices the same way they manage their PCs and laptops,” Nguyen said. “We want businesses to be more proactive because as more and more businesses adopt these (mobile) devices and are using more enterprise applications and storing confidential data on them, there’s more risk involved. Now, users can take a holistic approach to managing their mobile devices within a single management framework and apply the same policies to them.”
Nguyen cites an example where employees take USB drives both to and from the workspace, which leads to things such as data loss and other security risks. Similarly, employees who use their own personal mobile devices to store work-related information and so on, also contribute to these same risks.
“If a phone is lost or stolen and the data is not protected, everything on the phone can be easily compromised and data can be lost or breached,” Nguyen explained. “The general trend with smartphones seems to be that people are taking an ad hoc approach when it comes to mobile security because they haven’t been hit (breached) yet.”
To help businesses and users better protect their mobile devices, Symantec has released three new software products, including Symantec Device Management 7.0, which manages and provisions the device, Symantec Endpoint Protection Mobile Edition 6.0 which provides anti-virus, firewall and anti-spam capabilities and Symantec Network Access Control Mobile Edition 6.0 which helps to protect access to a business’ corporate network.
Businesses can also use Symantec’s Mobile Security Suite 5.1, which helps to secure confidential information on mobile devices using encryption and password protection features, Nguyen added.
The release of these new products and mobile strategy is an opportunity for Symantec channel partners to educate their customers on potential security risks associated with mobile devices.
“Partners can help customers evaluate risks and can help them take the steps that are needed to mitigate on those security risks by choosing solutions that manage each stage of the mobile device lifecycle,” he said. “This is a natural extension for our partners to also be able to find net new (customer) opportunities.”
