ESET’s android smartphone secures IT needs

With 1.1 billion smartphones worldwide there is absolutely no doubt that smartphones and tablets have become critically important for personal and business productivity.

What's not been so clear is how New Zealand managers can best support and secure them consistent with IT policy on the one hand and avoiding over investment on the other.

ESET's release of the business edition of ESET Mobile Security for Android, together with ESET Remote Administrator (RA) meets the most important need of IT Managers battling with BYOD- security.

ESET Endpoint Security for Android offers connectivity to ESET RA allowing the company's IT administrators to check the status of Android smartphones used by employees, run on-demand scans, push security policies, and get an overview of the platforms, OS versions and other useful information.

On top of that, it features all the benefits of a regular Mobile Security suite like SMS/MMS Antispam and Call Blocking.

An essential feature delivered by the mobile software is the ability for the IT Administrator to remotely find, lock or wipe any lost or stolen device via a simple but secure SMS command.

Independent test authority AV-Comparatives concluded "ESET Mobile Security was one of few products that made data recovery after a remote wipe completely impossible," as it overwrites the entire memory.

The product is suitable for all Android-based devices including smartphones, tablets and e-readers and adds another layer of protection to the ESET Endpoint Solutions.

"At ESET, we are very aware of the critical infrastructure being deployed to the environment of mobile devices and how it needs to stand up to the daily test of blocking potential data loss and unwanted leaks," says Palo Luka, ESET chief technology officer.

"ESET Endpoint Security for Android brings a fast, smooth and comprehensive solution to protect these newly-important endpoints in the company network."

While for some very large businesses, the move to BYOD has required them to invest in Mobile Device Management (MDM) software, for most the investment is simply not justified.

The primary reason large enterprises are deploying MDM software is security, cited by 72% of the respondents to a recent InformationWeek Global CIO survey.

The other three reasons selected by respondents were: greater mobile spending efficiency (12%), inventory/audit (8%) and cost savings (7%).

The solution features all the benefits made popular by the previous version of ESET Mobile Security Business Edition, enriched by the ESET Remote Administrator support and ESET USSD Control tools.

The USSD Control tool, allows the user to check potentially malicious phone numbers (USSD codes) before they are dialed (executed) by the default phone dialer.

It also blocks malicious websites and due to checking for malicious codes before they are executed, ESET USSD Control makes sure all data on an Android phone stays safe.

According to the Online Security Brand Tracker (OSBT), a global research project, 1.1 billion of users worldwide are connecting to the Internet using their smartphone, of whom 47% are using an Android-based device.

In addition, tablets are increasingly popular with more than 492 million used as a device to connect to the Internet, of which 39% run an Android operating system.

These portable devices store not only sensitive personal data but also proprietary business information – similar to those stored on desktop workstations.

In addition "worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users reached 419 million units in the second quarter of 2012, smartphone sales accounted for 36.7 percent of total mobile phone sales and grew 42.7 percent in the second quarter of 2012.

According to Gartner* Android is now installed on almost 65% of smartphones, making the protection of data ever more important.

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