One of the central challenges of what we call 'consumerisation' is to balance the benefits of employees using their own devices and applications with the risks. Looking at device compliance for example, organisations may be concerned whether a device is jailbroken, whether it is running applications which could put corporate data at risk and so on, or indeed, whether it would pass basic security checks - 60% of mobile device users don't have a pin code!
At the same time, mobile access to data and services helps make people more productive. Take away someone's smartphone and that's not going to help anyone as, in many organisations, even personal devices have become mission critical. At Symantec we've been working hard to resolve the conundrum of how to get content to people as quickly as possible to ensure they can do their jobs, potentially using their own devices, at the same time as assuring the protection of corporate assets.
The Symantec Sealed program works at the application level, rather than the device level, meaning that services and data are protected whatever the state of the device. Developers can embed Symantec security and management directly into their apps, without having to restrict functionality; device users can then select protected apps from the Symantec App Center in the same way as they would use the App Store. The Symantec Sealed program allows developers to create applications that are protected already and can be easily brought into the Symantec App Center allowing a company to apply policies to how users use that app and manage its rollout.
By working directly with applications, we are changing the game from "how can you manage a device" to "how can you secure the experience". This not only assures data security but also enables features such as remote wipe of a single application, for example if a mobile phone is left in a bar. We already have an email app available, and we are currently looking at inter-app communications - for example enabling a secured PDF reader to open an email attachment. We're also looking at adding VPN and remote gateway capabilities so device users can access corporate services from an 'untrusted' device.
Organisations can choose the level of security they want according to their own corporate policies - for example to decide whether a document can be read but not emailed, or whether to integrate with Data Leakage Protection. By offering a range of facilities, Symantec Sealed aligns with the evolving need to empower users while managing risks, rather than simply trying (and potentially failing) to lock down anything IT-related.
At the same time, device users have broader options for how they access corporate data, and therefore increased control. Users can decide the trade-offs for themselves, becoming willing self-managers to gain freedom and access to the tools they need to do their jobs. We are in a new era - of user empowerment - but with Symantec Sealed, consumerisation of mobile device usage does not have to result in increased risk to the business.
Symantec Sealed Program partner Accellion states how simple the program is – watch the video here