This article is more than 1 year old

New iPhone and Android mobes secure enough for spooks

Platforms to get some serious security packages to rival BlackBerry

Feds and spooks will shortly be able to use iPads and Androids for government business, as new software aims to seal and protect leaky open Android and iPhone platforms.

A security revamp for Android and iOS handsets would mean that a whole range of techie tools could get used for US Federal business; currently only BlackBerry systems have Federal security authentication.

Bad-boy Pentagon boffinry bureau DARPA put out a call in April for security solutions for common consumer devices and it has resulted in several companies picking up the challenge.

Good Technology, which produces mobile security for business and government, and ActivIdentity, which provides the identity smart cards for the US Department of Defense, are working on a joint piece of software for both iOS and Android, according to InfoWorld.

They intend their final mobe-securing product to offer:

  • full disc encryption on the device;
  • robust encryption of email and documents;
  • compatibility with CAC/PIV-standard smart cards and and secure ID chips (cards used to identify military personnel by the US military);
  • cryptographic signing of emails and forms; and
  • use of public key infrastructure (PKI) authentication tools with custom applications.

Good Technology will use its mobile device management server tool as the management console for the ActivIdentity-authenticated hardware. It expects its first products to be ready by July 2012.

Elsewhere, IBM are investigating secure cloud-based mobile management. And Apperian has already released a tool for enterprise-standard apps: the Enterprise App Services Environment (EASE) product for Android devices, which lets businesses provision and manage apps.

Yes, 2012's James Bonds will have fondleslabs... ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like