Sophos aims to reduce mobile security risks

Sophos today said it would soon roll out its Mobile Control package that will let enterprise customers apply security controls to all things mobile, from iPads and iPhones to the Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices.

HOW TO: Manage consumer devices on your network

The system works through agentless technology that will let the Sophos Mobile Control management console establish security policies that handle password management and block use of functions, such as cameras, and control which application have access to corporate resources.

One main idea is to give enterprise customers a way to accommodate the mobile devices that employees use for corporate use as well, says Arabella Hallawell, vice president of corporate strategy for Sophos.

Using Sophos Mobile Control, the company would establish a security policy and the employee would click to agree to that policy," she says. Sophos technology, said to include SMS and an extension to ActivSync for Microsoft Exchange, would play a role in then allowing the security manager to exert security controls on devices after employee consent.

Although Sophos is known for its anti-virus software, Arabella said the initial version of Sophos Mobile Control won't include anti-virus but the product to be generally available this spring is envisioned as the foundation going forward to roll in other types of security functions over time.

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