Mobile management shifting toward the enterprise
Connecting state and local government leaders
Mobile App Manager from F5 Networks could make BYOD more secure by moving responsibility for security from the device to the network.
Although use of mobile devices continues to gain rapid acceptance by the general public and government agencies, BYOD security remains a work in progress, as enterprises look for a mobile device management (MDM) system that would focus on securing the network, not just devices.
F5 Networks has introduced a software solution, Mobile App Manager, that addresses that challenge by pushing security to the network, Networkworld reported. “Mobile computing is a network-centric compute model, meaning the network needs to play a bigger part in giving IT the control and security it had when IT owned the devices,” writes Networkworld’s Zeus Kerravala.
Mobile App Manager is a software-as-a-service offering that works with F5’s Big IP Access Policy Manager to securely connect applications to the user’s device. It separates personal data and usage from work-related content and functionality, allowing an enterprise to control its own functions without disabling personal apps or inspecting personal content, the company said.
Mobile app manager “creates a secure footprint on the device for enterprise data and access only,” F5 said. “Each enterprise application is securely wrapped, so there is no way to use it incorrectly.”
Soon after MDM first appeared, risk management associated with mobile computing became a chief security concern at government agencies, GCN contributing writer Shawn McCarthy wrote, because each new device added to a government network introduced substantial risks.
Smart phones essentially bring their own network into a facility, and data stored on a device can easily leave that facility, he noted.
“IT managers must develop a framework to evaluate the mobile security needs of their organization, and launch their own enterprisewide security framework focusing on risk management — all while deciding how mobile application management will be handled within their organization,” McCarthy wrote.
But as Networkworld’s Kerravala points out, the industry is still in the early days of BYOD, and many entities have looked to mobile device management solutions to help them handle the influx of consumer devices.
He predicts not only the emergence of new security solutions but also MDM-focused mergers and acquisitions designed “to simplify the implementation of mobile unified communications and managed mobility solutions.”