Solution Providers Hoping To Tap Into New Frontier Of Mobile Security

Driven by the increasing popularity of the Internet of Things, businesses are taking the forefront on securing the fresh array of unmanageable connected devices in their enterprise networks, according to a report by market research firm Infonetics.

This increased concern about connected devices among businesses has opened a new frontier of mobile security solutions, holding endless opportunities for security and MDM-focused VARs in the channel.

One mobile security solution provider, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Good Technology, has been tapping into solutions to address the uneasy concerns of businesses as more employees bring wearables and other connected devices into the workplace.

[Related: Watch Out: Apple Watch Set To Disrupt Wearables Market With Hot Features, Massive Sales]

"While I don't see wearables radically changing the world yet, we see a little fear in the IT world because it's a new technology to learn and they aren't sure what to expect," said Brian Reed, chief mobility officer of Good Technology. "A few years ago, businesses were surprised when employees wanted to be hooked up to tablets. Now, the enterprise has high expectations for the Apple Watch, and businesses want to be ready for this new device."

The report, released this week by Campbell, Calif.-based Infonetics Research, now part of IHS Inc., found that nearly three-fourths of the 187 medium and large businesses surveyed are building a comprehensive security strategy for the unmanaged Internet of Things devices connected to their networks.

"The overwhelming problem is that companies can't do anything to stop connectivity and BYOD in the enterprise network," said Jeff Wilson, principal analyst for security at Infonetics Research. "Security now has to be broken into small pieces. The long-term solution in response to the new blend of different technologies and products is enforcement through both the network and the cloud."

Infonetics' survey also found that 42 percent of respondents expect wearables to be connected to their networks by 2016. Those responses parallel the launch Monday of the Apple Watch, which analysts expect to boost the smartwatch market over the next few years.

The business ecosystem was first transformed by the development of tablets and smartphones, as more employees used their own devices at work out of convenience. But now, with the explosion of IoT-driven devices, solution providers think that more businesses are concerned about valuable information passing through an array of unmanaged, newer devices.

For Good Technology, that enterprise mobility management solution comes through securing the pieces of code that run on wearables. The company recently announced the expansion of its Good Dynamics Secure Mobility Platform to include the extended ecosystem of wearables and connected things, at Mobile World Congress in the beginning of March.

"That allows us to secure and control data on wearables, much like we do with tablets," said Good Technology's Reed. "It puts protection policies on the data, so that IT can have a higher level of control and confidence, making it possible to put apps on wearables."

Ojas Rege, vice president of strategy at Mountain View, Calif.-based mobile solution provider MobileIron, agreed that companies should be taking the offensive on the multitude of devices that will soon hit the business ecosystem, and stressed that businesses should take preliminary steps to prepare themselves, such as identifying big data strategies for the IoT and protecting new connected devices against network intrusions.

"There is a lot of hype around the Internet of Things and sometimes it is difficult to wade through the noise to determine what an enterprise IT organization should actually be doing today to prepare," said Rege. "We expect the number of devices with connectivity to grow exponentially over the next decade. Some of those devices will have a human interface and be multipurpose, like a smartwatch. Others will never interface with a person and be highly specialized, like a motion sensor. But all will produce and consume enterprise data and need to be part of an overall security architecture."

PUBLISHED MARCH 13, 2015