SECURITY

Software Provides IT Security Across Range of Mobile Devices

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 09-06-11 | Comments

As employees use different mobile devices to review and create company information, IT managers struggle to keep data secure. New software now lets managers have more control over company data on devices, while keeping personal information, like emails and photos, secure.

Last spring, a major IT security study showed that mobile phones are one of the main areas of concern among CIOs, as employees are using a wide range of devices to view company information. New software now allows IT administrators to manage these devices in a more secure and effective way.

IBM�s social-networking software Connections is now available on all major mobile devices, including Android, iPhone and BlackBerry. With the tool, users will be able to access company information such as blogs, employee data, status updates and wikis. They will also be able to share files, videos and photos directly from their mobile phones.

IBM Connections (Source: IBM)

The tool provides major security capabilities for IT administrators, who will be able to execute a �partial wipe� on employees� mobile devices. While this wipe deletes all confidential company data from a device, it preserves personal data like email, photos and games.

The mobile software will enable broader use of mobile devices and social networking at the office, while preventing dangerous data leaks.

With the software come several other mobile apps to enable smarter social business. A unified-communications app on Android, for example, brings IBM�s Sametime software to the device. Sametime enables features like text-to-speech messaging, which reads text aloud when a user cannot look at the screen. The app updates will also allow BlackBerry users to participate in live, online meetings with co-workers.

Cummins Inc., a maker of diesel engines, has been using the social-business apps to increase employee productivity. �We look forward to expanding our use of IBM mobile collaboration applications in order to enhance the flexibility and on demand features that allow workers to work where they want to work,� said Eric Christian, director of Global Architecture and Security at Cummins, in a statement.

How are workers at your company using mobile devices and social networking? Let us know in the comments section below!