Posts Tagged ‘Mobile Security’

Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute, a private company specializing in security research, sat down with Digital Nomads to talk about laptop security.

The interview references a Dell / Ponemon study in 2008 that indicated that 12,000 laptops per week were lost by business travelers each week in US airports.

Dr. Ponemon talks to the human element to information security – the reality that though technology is there to solve information security issues, there is a rogue element in the people who use the technology. Using the 80/20 rule, the 20% of information security that “people” are responsible for can cause 80% of the damage. Dr. Ponemon reminds organizations that they need to keep up their training and awareness campaigns in order to ensure that negligent employees know more about the consequences of their actions.

The video is very interesting, talking about mobile security, managing user-downloaded software, and creating practical solutions for people to keep using their mobile devices in a secure and useful way. The video also talks about the differences between large and small companies for information security, about keeping ahead of security issues, being mindful of risk and more.

And don’t forget to check out the Absolute and Ponemon Study on the Human Factor in Laptop Encryption.

Network World has put together a series of 5 tips for an effective enterprise mobility strategy. Such a strategy will ensure that IT is aware of all the technology purchased for or used for business purposes and how these devices are used.

1. Define Requirements – how the workforce needs to work
2. Be Selective - decide what is necessary and cost-effective
3. Establish who is in charge - of ongoing device management, security, mobile application development, carrier relationships and network deployments
4. Commit to documenting policies – start with good polities, review them and educate employees
5. Evaluate – decide if your strategy continues to keep up with new technology and needs of the company

Having a centralized mobility policy will help ensure that employees have access to the technology they need and are not driven to break security policies by using their own devices unbeknownst to the IT department. As part of your mobile security policy, Computrace Mobile can help your organization manage your handheld devices and protect your data if they go missing.

In November, Absolute Software announced a closed beta for expanding Computrace Mobile for  the BlackBerry® platform. On Monday, Computrace Mobile for BlackBerry devices went live!

Computrace Mobile delivers asset management, data protection and geolocation tracking for the popular BlackBerry line of smartphones (versions 4.2.1 and later). A couple of months ago, we shared a beta experience from John Halamka, CIO, Beth Israel Deaconess & Harvard Medical School, who described his experiences using the platform. He has completed the 60 days of beta testing now, saying:

“I depend on my BlackBerry to run five different organizations, $100 million in annual budgets, and 800 emails a day. The Computrace Agent enables me to track my Blackberry via its internal GPS. Also, it enables my staff to track my location to an accuracy of about 20 meters.”

If you’re an existing Computrace customer, you can manage your mobile phones from the same portal. This gives our customers the ability to quickly and easily manage their data devices, reducing operational costs and losses from theft. If a computer or smartphone protected with Computrace goes missing, you also have the ability to remotely delete sensitive data. Learn more from the press release here.

Computrace Mobile is also supported on all Windows Mobile® 5 and 6 handheld devices including the HP® iPAQ, HTC® Touch, MOTO Q™, Samsung® BlackJack and Treo®.

Absolute Software announced today that its customers can now use Google Maps, GPS and Wi-Fi to visually track their computers!

Absolute has added Wi-Fi geolocation tracking to its Computrace line of anti-theft and management products. Customers can now use Google Maps to see where their computers are in either GPS or in Wi-Fi triangulation information sent back from the laptops. IT managers can track all their computing assets on a single worldwide map.

Here’s a comparison of the service, the top with GPS capability and the bottom with both GPS and Wi-Fi capability:

This new capability makes recovery efforts more successful for Absolute Software which, in turn, reduces the loss and exposure that are the result of a data breach associated with lost computers.

“When used effectively, this intuitive tool can help them mitigate losses by enabling simple and timely identification of when an asset may have moved to unauthorized locations.” – John Livingston, CEO of Absolute Software

Since Wi-Fi is built into most laptop computers this becomes an efficient means of tracking computers. Computrace now uses all commercially-available tracking methodologies: IP tracing, global positioning system tracking and now Wi-Fi tracking.

One of the tips in the Lifehacker article highlighted in the previous post was so relevant to mobile security that I thought it deserved a whole new post.

The tip was to ensure that you wipe the data off your smartphone – iPhone or BlackBerry – before you trade it in. Whether you’re donating it or selling it, or just giving it to a friend, it’s important that you take all of your data off of it.

iPhone – Erasing Data

If you have the latest stable version of software on your iPhone, the data can be wiped securely. If you are running software earlier than 2.0, there is a way to hack it to dump the data.

The steps to erase the data on iPhones running 2.0 or later versions of the OS are to go to:

Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Contents and Settings

BlackBerry – Erasing Data

On the BlackBerry, thanks to BBGeeks, incorrectly enter your password 10 times then enter the code “blackberry” to trigger a wipe OR go to:

Options > Security Options > General Settings > Click the trackwheel/trackball on the Password field > Select “Wipe Handheld” > Enter “blackberry” when prompted

Also, if you’ve been following along with this blog, you’ll know that Absolute Software is beta testing Computrace Mobile for the BlackBerry right now. This will enable you to do a remote delete of your BlackBerry data in the event that your phone is lost or stolen. Stay tuned for more news on that soon!!

Images: Apple & BlackBerry

As we announced about a month ago here on the blog and on Absolute.com, Absolute Software has been running a closed beta of its existing Computrace Mobile for the BlackBerry platform!

John Halamka, CIO for Caregroup, is one of our beta testers and he recently shared his experiences with the product on his blog, saying:

“Although the Absolute products are primarily encryption, tracking, and data protection systems, they are also a very cool geotracking system for Blackberry owners (with their consent).”

In addition to recognized benefits of tracking his BlackBerry, and wiping the data if it does go missing, John realized he could share the login for the Computrace Customer Care center with his family, so they’d always know where he was.

I had a chance to correspond briefly with John by email about his experience with the new service. John says that he’s never had a mobile device lost or stolen before, although had a close call when he left a Palm with personal information on an airplane. His current BlackBerry has contact information, no insecure corporate data, but the new Massachusetts Data Protection regulations have prompted an evaluation of products to encrypt / protect corporate mobile devices.

John Halamka was not a previous customer of Absolute Software, so this is his first experience using Computrace. He describes the installation process of the tracking agents to his MacBook and BlackBerry as “seamless”. You can read his full experience here.

Computrace Mobile is expected to be generally available for the BlackBerry for corporate customers in 2009. If you’re a journalist interested in doing a review, contact Absolute for a private demo.

Computrace Mobile currently is supported on all Windows Mobile 5 and 6 handheld devices including the HP iPAQ, HTC Touch, MOTO Q, Samsung BlackJack and Treo 750.

Absolute Software dropped some big news today! Absolute has begun a closed beta of extending Computrace Mobile to the BlackBerry platform! It is estimated that Computrace Mobile will be generally available to corporate customers in the first quarter of 2009.

Computrace Mobile will deliver asset management, data protection and geolocation tracking, features of the Computrace protection package for laptop computers, to the BlackBerry.

“We will be able to offer our customers a single system for managing and securing their Windows and Mac laptops and desktops, Windows Mobile devices and now BlackBerry smartphones… This solution will provide them with the visibility and protection they need to reduce operational costs and losses due to theft and inefficient allocation.” – John Livingston, president and CEO of Absolute Software.

We’re quite excited about the news, and hope you are too! Although the beta is closed at the moment, if you’re a journalist interested in doing a review, contact Absolute for a private demo. Continue reading the press release here.

Computrace Mobile currently is supported on all Windows Mobile 5 and 6 handheld devices including the HP iPAQ, HTC Touch, MOTO Q, Samsung BlackJack and Treo 750.