HID Global Identity Assurance Launches Secure BYOD Solution For iOS

PRESS RELEASE

IRVINE, Calif., September 19, 2012 – HID Global, a worldwide leader in secure identity solutions, today announced the release of the ActivClient Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK) for iOS. Application developers, enterprises, government entities and other organizations will benefit from this SDK with two-factor authentication, signature and decryption technology capabilities for all iOS devices, including iPhones and iPads. These devices have led the charge in the Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) phenomenon, causing a shift in the way enterprise and government employees access their corporate email and other resources.

The ActivClient Mobile SDK for iOS is the first solution to truly deliver strong authentication to protect corporate data residing on millions of personal smartphones and tablets used for corporate email, portal and cloud application access. It delivers this level of control for users accessing corporate data from the iOS environment through strong authentication, signature and decryption. This technology can be used to secure access to applications and networks with the appropriate hardware.

"This is an important milestone in our mobile strategy," said Julian Lovelock, vice president of product marketing, Identity Assurance with HID Global. "As the market shifts from workstations to smartphones and tablets, there is an increased use of these devices to access corporate emails and resources. Our iOS SDK will help bring the same level of security to mobile devices that exist today on desktops."

Enterprise and government organizations are struggling with how to allow employees to use their own mobile devices for work yet keep corporate data secure. As recently as 2010, less than 10% of enterprises explicitly allowed BYOD. Current research suggests that most corporations have relented in the last year, with more than 60% now adopting pro-BYOD policies. ActivClient Mobile SDK for iOS provides a layer of middleware that connects strong two-factor authentication credentials to applications and encrypted 'containers' running secure application stacks on the mobile device. HID Global's new ActivClient SDK supports an unparalleled standard of secure BYOD usage by enabling the benefits of pervasive smart mobile devices, with reasonable and responsible enterprise policy enforcement for even for the most security-minded enterprise and government organizations.

"Now that most organizations have accepted the pervasive reality of BYOD in their business, Mobile Device Management with advanced security has become a huge priority," said Monica Basso, Research Vice President with Gartner, Info Security and Privacy Research Group. "Solutions that deliver strong security capabilities for BYOD deployments will become particularly interesting to those organizations as they seek technologies to enforce secure policies. An SDK like that from HID Global gives enterprises the flexibility to create a solution either in-house or through third party organizations."

ActivClient Mobile SDK for iOS currently supports several hardware options:

Standard-compliant PIV and CAC smart cards, HID Global smart cards – connected to the iPhone or iPad using the Precise Biometrics Tactivo smart card reader

HID Global secure microSD – connected to the iPhone using an Apple-approved sleeve

Availability

The HID Global ActivClient Mobile SDK for iOS will be available in October 2012 and can be easily integrated into iOS apps.

About Identity Assurance Solutions

HID Global Identity Assurance Solutions enable customers to prove and establish trust in a person's identity when accessing resources on the network. The business's strong authentication and smart card solutions are relied upon by more agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, than any other provider, and has issued more than 100 million credentials to enterprise, government and commerce customers. The Identity Assurance Solutions Business (formerly ActivIdentity) is headquartered in Silicon Valley, California. For more information, visit www.actividentity.com.

About HID Global

HID Global is the trusted source for secure identity solutions for millions of customers around the world. Recognized for robust quality, innovative designs and industry leadership, HID Global is the supplier of choice for OEMs, system integrators and application developers serving a variety of markets. These markets include physical and logical access control, including strong authentication and credential management; card printing and personalization; visitor management systems; highly secure government and citizen ID; and identification RFID technologies used in animal ID and industry and logistics applications. The company's primary brands include ActivIdentity®, EasyLobby®, FARGO® and HID®. Headquartered in Irvine, California, HID Global has over 2,000 employees worldwide and operates international offices that support more than 100 countries. HID Global® is an ASSA ABLOY Group brand. For more information, visit www.hidglobal.com