Category: Mobile Security

Mobile security firm AirWatch bought out by VMware

| January 28, 2014

The cloud software manufacturer has now revealed that it will be buying the company for $1.54 billion.

VMware Inc., a cloud software maker, has now announced that it will be buying AirWatch, which is a privately held mobile security provider, for a purchase price of $1.54 billion.Mobile Security aquisition

The goal is to allow the companies to secure a place in meeting demands from companies for securing devices.

As a growing number of employers are allowing their workers to use their own mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, they are also placing themselves at an increased risk. Therefore, there is currently a rapidly rising demand from businesses for a way to secure those employee owned gadgets, as well as those that are owned by the companies but that are used by the employees, for that matter.

Some analysts see this mobile security acquisition as a threat to BlackBerry’s traditional position of dominance.

The reason that they feel this way is that BlackBerry Ltd. has, for many years, been the automatic choice for companies that are seeking to protect themselves with security products. That said, other analysts are saying that this new acquisition could lead to a rash of additional buyouts throughout this market.

The first steps that VMware, itself, had made into this market were only recent ones. It’s primary business has been in the manufacture of virtualization software, which produces a type of virtual machine which behaves in a way that is comparable to an actual computer. This gives companies the opportunity to slash their IT expenses by reducing the need for storage space and servers.

According to Pat Gelsinger the CEO of VMware, when interviewed about the deal, “AirWatch will be the center of our mobile activities,” adding that “We are really bringing together the strength we have in PCs and desktops with AirWatch’s in the mobility space.”

According to ABI Research, the mobile security marketplace will be doubling by next year, to reach over $1 billion. The VMware acquisition of AirWatch is the third major deal of this nature that has recently occurred and many are predicting that this number will grow.

Mobile devices from BlackBerry will comprise 98 percent of Defensewide System

| January 23, 2014

This mobile development from the Pentagon will secure a number of smartphone brands for war fighters.

Defense Department officials have revealed that the mobile development of a Pentagon system is being geared toward ensuring that a range of different mobile devices from different brands for war fighters will be mainly supported by BlackBerry as the tool begins its launch at the end of January.

The vast majority of these gadgets are going to be based on Blackberry, while the remainder will have other operating systems.

Officials estimated that 80,000 BlackBerry mobile devices, as well as 1,800 smartphones and tablets based on Android and iOS owned by the Defense Department would start to be connected to this new management system on January 31, 2014.

This is the latest step in the transition that began in 2012 to move toward mobile devices.

BlackBerry Mobile Devices - 98 Percent Defensewide SystemTwo years ago, the Defense Department started to step away from wired workstation computers and toward more a more mobile access to information. This most recent effort is a considerable one in this process and it is wholly dependent on the proper functioning of this Defensewide system.

The project, which has an estimated price tag of $16 million , is meant to ensure that a possible 300,000 users within the department will not compromise military data on their smartphones and tablets. It has also been created to make certain that defense networks will not be corrupted while these individuals continue their information access while they are on the go.

Aside from BlackBerry mobile devices, it is expected that other popular gadgets to be included in this transition will be the iPad 3 and 4, as well as iPhones 4S and 5, in addition to the Samsung 3S, Samsung 10.1 tablets, and the RAZR line of products from Motorola.

In a statement, officials from the Pentagon said that “The new year will bring new mobile capabilities to as many as 100,000 DoD users.” They added that, starting on January 31, the department would be implementing version 1.0 of the unclassified mobile capability, and that it would then continue to expand the capacity of this management system to the point that it would be capable of supporting up to 100,000 users by the close of the fiscal year.