Author: Julie Campbell

Mobile security benefits added for iPhone users through IBM

| February 27, 2013

IBM Mobile SecurityThe latest AppScan update will help to make iPhones and iPads more secure through a number of changes.

IBM has just announced the launch of its latest software, which is designed to help to assist developers in securing code and data in apps for iPhones and iPads.

The latest update to the AppScan Source for iOS devices provides developers with flaw alerts.

The latest update for the iOS version of AppScan Source 8.7 is able to search through the application’s code so that it can let developers know when it has identified a flaw within it. IBM has also stated that this powerful mobile security software is able to analyze applications that employees would like to download onto their iPhones and iPads. It can alert them to various types of vulnerabilities that these apps present and can then communicate these potential threats to the I.T. security staff at the organization.

IBM has stated that this software will help to improve mobile security without a negative impact on time to market.

The company explained that the software is able to make the mobile security level better for this apps, without having a harmful effect on their time to market. It supported this statement by making reference to Gartner statistics, which have suggested that 45.6 billion applications were downloaded in 2012, which is why securing various endpoint devices – such as smartphones – should be one of the leading priorities held by a company.

AppScan Source was developed by IBM through an analysis of more than 40,000 apps for iOS devices that were created through the use of the Apple iOS Software Development Kit. Among the features that it currently boasts are JavaScript and Java complete language support, as well as supporting Objective-C. It can also perform call and data flow analysis which will provide trace data. This would provide companies with the ability to create enterprise apps with considerably greater mobile security, regardless of the choice of technology by employees and partners.

According to the IBM director of Application, Data, and Mobile Security, Caleb Barlow, this now capability will allow for the incorporation of “security into their infrastructure and solutions from the design, development and testing phases rather than leaving security to become an afterthought.”

QR codes test tattoo artist skills

| February 25, 2013

QR Codes test tattoo skillsA Turkish small business has used the barcodes to filter out applicants who aren’t accurate enough.

An upscale tattoo business in Istanbul has launched a hiring campaign that uses QR codes to help to test an individual’s accuracy, even before he or she is allowed to actually apply for the job.

The print ad barcodes were used as a unique and innovative strategy to stop sloppy artists from applying.

The typical application process for a tattoo artist would involve filling in the form, having an interview, and performing a test to make sure that he or she is adequately skilled. However, this can lead to a lengthy, uncomfortable, or even angry process as there are far more people who apply for the job than are actually up to the standards of the business. Some of this struggle has been overcome through the use of QR codes.

The tattoo artists who wanted to apply were required to fill out blank QR codes in the print advertisements.

The tattoo business, Berrge Tattoo, hired Istanbul based marketing agency, BÜRO, in order to help to create the smartphone friendly campaign. It integrated the use of a print ad, QR codes, and the innovative website to add an additional important step to its hiring process. The result was highly creative and completely unique.

The QR codes within the ad, itself, became a central part of the hiring process. There were blank barcodes printed in flesh color in the ad, which were required to be completed in order to make it possible to scan them with a smartphone using a scanner app. Scanning a properly completed barcode directed the individual to the application form for the position. However, if the task was not completed with enough accuracy, the code would not resolve and the individual would not be able to apply.

This use of the QR codes was very helpful in weeding out those applicants that paid the least attention to detail and accuracy, before the company was even required to receive their application forms or meet them for an interview. As the majority of scanners allow for a 30 percent margin of error, there was still some room to make mistakes, but those applicants would have the opportunity to prove themselves in their interviews and actual tests.