Tag: smartphone security

Fujitsu takes on the growing problem of mobile security

Mobile security has become a major issue for consumers all over the world. As more people engage in things like mobile commerce and mobile marketing, they are becoming prime targets for hackers and malicious groups bent on exploiting financial and personal information. To combat the growing concerns that are emerging in the mobile security world, new solutions are being developed and released at a rapid pace. Fujitsu Laboratories, a leading developer of IT products and services, is one of the companies responsible for a new generation of mobile security solutions.

New security platform in development

Fujitsu has announced the development of a new security platform for smart phones, called the Mobile Enterprise Application Platform. The platform is being designed specifically to protect corporate data, but may eventually become a widely used tool throughout the mobile market. One of the things that has garnered Fujitsu’s new platform a great deal of attention is the fact that it is HTML 5-based. The platform also incorporates cloud computing, creating what Fujitsu believes to be a highly secure system.

Platform provides access to HTML 5 applications

The platform connects a  smart phone to a cloud-based computer server, which provides users with access to a wide variety of corporate applications, such as email, sales databases, and customer information, all as HTML 5 applications. These applications are available for all smart phones because they are based on HTML 5 rather than the programming languages exclusive to the iOS and Android platforms. The cloud network encrypts the information that users access, thereby creating an extra layer of security.

Cloud network protected by strict security features

The platform also imposes a variety of security measures on a mobile device while it is connected to the cloud network. When a device makes the connection, for example, the platform will deactivate the device’s camera and prohibit a user from taking pictures of the screen through their device’s internal services. The platform also restricts Internet access to avoid the possibility of visiting malicious websites or downloading malware. Once the connection with the cloud network is severed, however, the device  becomes from off these restrictions.

This proposed regulation would allow smartphone users to ask apps to delete their information.

U.S. Representative Hank Johnson (D-Georgia) has proposed mobile security legislation that would make it possible for smartphone users to be able to request that apps cease the collection of their personal data, and that they delete information that has been previously collected about them.

The American lawmaker has released a discussion draft for the change to the current law.

The release was made regarding the Application Privacy, Protection, and Security Act. This proposed bill would require mobile security measures to be taken by all apps, in that they must provide their users with notice about the data that they collect, and they must receive consent from those users before they will be permitted to collect any personal information.

This mobile security proposal would also allow the users to control the information being collected or held.

Beyond simply requiring permission to collect the personal information in the first place, this mobile security measure would also make it possible for users of apps to be able to tell the developer that they will no longer be using the app and that they wish the collection of their information to stop. This would mean that the developers would not only need to cease the collection of the data, and would also have to delete any personal data that has already been collected “to the extent practicable”, said the discussion draft.

Rep. Johnson used the AppRights.us website in order to solicit ideas for the mobile security and privacy bill that he wanted to propose. The website was initially launched in July 2012. He explained in a statement that “Because the majority of the feedback that we received on AppRights expressed strong support for user control, transparency, and security, we incorporated these principles into the bill.”

He also added that “Many of you also told us that simple mechanisms are important to protecting your privacy on mobile devices.” He went on to say that after he had heard the concerns that were raised, he was able to write provisions that would address them in a way that would provide increased mobile security, without threatening the integrity or functionality of the “apps that you love.”