Juniper launches security software for mobile devices

MANILA, Philippines - Juniper Networks has launched security software meant to protect smartphones and enhance user experience of mobile devices.

With the number of cellphone users swelling to around five billion globally by the end of the year, according to estimates of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the company believes it’s about time to seriously look at mobile security.

While the threat landscape in the mobile space isn’t as hyped and as alarming as computer security issues hounding the connected world, mobile threats are a rising concern.

A study commissioned by Juniper and conducted by KRC Research and Synovate showed that four out of five people cite security as a top priority when buying smartphones or tablet PCs. This is due in large part to the blurring of lines between the personal and business uses of mobile devices.

Mobile workers

The study showed that there are around one billion mobile workers in 2010 or one-third of the world’s workforce. Fewer than four percent of these mobile users use the device strictly for business — 40 percent use the gadgets for personal use, 81 percent access their employer’s network without permission, and 59 percent do so every day.

It is completely understandable, Juniper said, that more than half are anxious about losing their mobile devices and compromising their identities and personal or business information. 

“For IT departments, mobile devices represent a new and vulnerable endpoint for threats distributed via e-mail, text messaging, Blue-tooth, Wi-Fi and application downloads. Even worse, business data is at risk every time a device is lost or stolen,” it added.

On the consumer side, there is an estimated two million smartphones stolen in 2009. More than 80 percent of mobile device owners store personal information on their handsets, including personal health and financial data. Twenty-four percent of teen users admit to texting, while 32 percent reported having been contacted by strangers.

Cyber bullying

Eu Ween Kang, Juniper Network’s director of enterprise marketing in the Asia-Pacific, added that the more serious cases of cyber bullying hounding teens in many parts of the world are another issue worth looking into.

“Parental control has become an issue,” he said.

The newly introduced Junos Pulse mobile security suite seeks to address these issues by providing protection for mobile devices from viruses, malware, loss, theft and other threats. It can also remotely back up and restore data, locate lost or stolen devices, and provide parental controls for monitoring mobile phones used by teens and provide other value-added features for consumers.

With Pulse, there is no need for IT departments to worry about data coming in and out of the network, Ween Kang said. Workers can use their personal phone to access Internet using the VPN, and access their Web e-mail, the corporate e-mail, and CRM applications on the move. The software encrypts the information that links the transaction from the phone to the backend.

Provisioning of the Junos Pulse security features to individual smartphone users and enterprise customers will be done by service providers, which can add these as value-added service to their plan and price packaging.

Parental controls

For consumers, parental controls and other security offerings can be included in the offering, with options to be able to control, for example, sites, photos, videos and e-mails that can be received by their children on their mobile devices.

Side by side with Junos Pulse, Juniper also established its very own Global Threat and Research Center in Columbus, Ohio, in collaboration with Ohio University.

It is the first and only center in the world dedicated to tracking, responding and researching threats to mobile devices, including viruses, spyware and other vulnerabilities that can expose smartphone users’ sensitive information.

Eu said the center will release its “State of Mobile Security Report 2010” in the first half of 2011.