Sybase iAnywhere announced the next generation of its handheld security technology,
introducing a new architecture that offers major advancements in user
performance and battery life consumption. Designed specifically to take
advantage of the latest capabilities in Windows Mobile, the Information
Anywhere Suite updated Afaria security component enables virtually
instantaneous encryption and decryption of data.
This provides a solution to a major dilemma IT organizations face when
choosing to encrypt only selected data in order to maintain device
usability, while leaving other data, often email, unencrypted and
vulnerable.
“Using Information Anywhere Suite’s Afaria technology, organizations
can encrypt all mobile data with little decrease in performance and
minimal impact on battery life,” said Joe Owen, vice president of
engineering, Sybase iAnywhere, “In fact, several of our beta testers
have told us that the user experience is so good that they see virtually no difference when accessing encrypted data versus unencrypted data.“
"Security
of mobile data is more important than ever, as the number of mobile
applications containing highly sensitive data continues to increase,”
said Stacy Sudan, research analyst with IDC"s Mobile Enterprise Software
program. “Mobile security presents a classic battle within an
organization: IT needs to ensure compliance, but users don"t want
security to interfere with their mobile experience. Sybase iAnywhere"s
new security architecture seeks to mitigate this conflict by ensuring
that data is protected and that users remain productive."
“This
new release from Sybase iAnywhere is a huge step forward in mobile
device security. We no longer feel like we need to trade off between
security and usability," said Peter Mohr, CIO at HandStep. ”For the
first time ever, we are able to encrypt everything we need on a mobile
device, without negatively impacting the end user experience.”
Key features of the latest release of the Information Anywhere Suite Afaria security component includes:
Advanced data decryption –
Using a breakthrough architecture, all encrypted data is decrypted
on-demand only when requested by the application or operating system.
This allows the mobile user to have quick entry when logging into the
device, since data is no longer being decrypted at login. In addition,
as the architecture only re-encrypts changed data, rather than all
data, application performance is further maximized along with dramatic
improvements in battery life.Seamless application integration
– Encryption and decryption processes can be applied to data used by
any application stored on a mobile device, without affecting the
usability or execution of the application. This means that an
enterprise can confidently secure all confidential, proprietary and/or
sensitive data without having to worry about application compatibility.GPS system interoperability
– New functionality prevents locking of a mobile device while a GPS
application is operational, so that users can have full use of GPS
navigation programs without interruption.User interface enhancements
– An improved file selection user interface on Windows Mobile Pocket
PC/Professional devices now includes folder selection and improved
sub-directory support so that end users can select additional data for
encryption. In addition, alarms and notifications, such as calendar
alerts, are now displayed in front of the device lock screen. This
allows the end user to view and dismiss notifications without logging
into the device.Temporary password recovery improvements –
To handle the varying device form factors, the device lock interface
was enhanced to allow easy access to the password recovery system, and
to allow end users to place phone calls to the help desk from a locked phone.
Availability
This
new Information Anywhere Suite security functionality is expected to be
available in March 2008 for Windows Mobile 5 &6, Pocket
PC/Professional and Smartphone/standard, with additional platforms to
follow. For more information about this product, please visit: http://www.sybase.com/products/mobileenterprise/afaria.
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