Sophos Announces New Mobile Security Platform For Android, iPhones, And iPads

PRESS RELEASE

BOSTON – February 7, 2011 – Global IT security and data protection company Sophos today announced the availability of Sophos Mobile Control, the Company’s extension to its data protection and endpoint security product lines. A steady surge in smartphone adoption poses a new set of challenges for businesses as the workforce wants constant connectivity from their individual devices, going beyond what is company-issued. With this new offering, Sophos addresses a major pain point for businesses by safeguarding data on a broad range of popular smartphones and handheld devices, including Apple iPhones and iPads, Google Android, and Windows Mobile devices. Sophos Mobile Control provides comprehensive mobile device management, enabling the ability to simply and quickly secure, monitor, and control the configuration of these devices connecting to the corporate network, allowing similar levels of control and protection with company laptops and desktops.

Closing the Security Gap by Extending Enterprise-Grade Data Protection and Security to Consumer Devices

Smartphone security is the leading concern among IT executives according to recent Forrester research. Of those IT executives polled, 75% said that they were either concerned or very concerned about the security risks associated with the adoption of these devices and up to 40% allow or support Windows Mobile, the iPhone, and Pads. Further, approximately 150 million people in the US will be using smartphones by the middle of this year to perform social and personal functions, according to the Nielsen Company. And new mobile operating systems are being accepted at a rapid rate; for example IDC expects Android’s smartphone market share to increase from 16.3% to 24.6% between 2010 and 2014.

Companies are faced, at a rapid fire rate, with an unprecedented challenge of allowing consumer devices that they may not own, to access company data, while still giving employees control and use of their devices. The very notion of what defines a company endpoint has become redefined. Sophos’ mission is to provide businesses with the most comprehensive threat and data protection and to do so while reducing complexity and burden to IT administrators and end users, regardless of the device type or whether it is in or out of the network.

Sophos Mobile Control addresses the consumerization gap by extending device protection to a broad range of popular mobile platforms. Designed for IT administrators to simply and quickly secure, monitor, and control the configuration for smartphones running iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile operating systems, Sophos Mobile Control web-based console:

>> Secures mobile devices by centrally configuring security settings, enabling lockdown of unwanted features; and remote over-the-air lock or wipe if device is lost or stolen

>> Enables consistent security policy enforcement, strong password policy and lock period, control and installation of applications, blocking use of cameras, browsers, and the likes of YouTube

>> Eliminates administrative burden with a self-service portal that allows end users to register new devices and lock or wipe lost phones

>> Controls the access to corporate email via a secure gate allowing only properly secured and registered devices to access email

Quotes

Matthias Pankert, Head of Data Protection Product Management, Sophos

“The definition of a company endpoint is shifting rapidly and security solutions must quickly adapt to provide companies and users the protection they need without causing undue burden on IT staff and users. The introduction of the Sophos Mobile Control is the foundation for providing device and data protection and security controls in the context they need it.”

Pat Patterson, Information Security Architect, Raymond James – Customer

“The explosion of smartphones and tablets, and especially the applications for these mobile devices, has pushed the presence of our corporate data even further out of the corporate data center. The ability to protect our clients by maintaining security controls around this data is critical for businesses, especially financial services companies. We have to know what devices have our data and have the ability to encrypt them, lock them, and wipe them if they are lost or stolen. Having a robust mobile management platform is a prerequisite to taking advantage of all the opportunities that these new devices offer.”

General availability for Sophos Mobile Control: Q2 2011.

Visit Sophos at:

RSA' Conference 2011 at the Moscone Center, in San Francisco, CA on February 14-17 at booth 1817

HIMMS'11 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL on February 20-24 at booth 5178

About Sophos

More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy, and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards. Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.