|
As enterprises globally and in India leverage wireless accessibility to enhance business processes, access to mission-critical applications and remote access to enterprise data networks drive the need for mobile security. Fortinet, a security solutions company, which recently launched a mobile security product, believes that the same vulnerabilities, such as worms, Trojans and viruses that currently plague computers on the Internet will soon affect mobile phones as well. Vishak Raman, Country Manager, Fortinet, India, shares his take on mobile security infrastructure and its latest product.
How has the approach to mobile security evolved with increased high bandwidth value added services?
The big change has not been with the increase in speed or services, but the change in the underlying technologies used by telcos. With 2.5G and 3G networks, the underlying technology is now TCP/IP, which powers the new range of mobile services. Mobile operators are moving from proprietary service delivery networks and mobile devices to standard based networks leveraging Internet standard, TCP/IP, and standard based mobile devices running Windows and Symbian OS. This means that for telcos that have already upgraded their networks to 2.5G or better, the technology running their communications networks is now the same as the technology running the Internet. The same vulnerabilities, such as worms, Trojans and viruses, that currently plague computers on the Internet will soon affect mobile phones as well. There have already been some well-known mobile viruses, such as Cabir and eNetsky. The only reason why more devices are not affected is because of the relatively small memory and limited features on phones compared to computers. The gap, however, is rapidly shrinking with the growing popularity of smart phones and PDAs.
What are the security levels in FortiClient Mobile?
Unlike Symantec which has several versions for their mobile security product, Fortinet’s FortiClient Mobile bundles all the following features in one product: antivirus, personal firewall, IPSec VPN, address book protection and SMS anti-spam. Fortinet FortiClient Mobile is the only unified threat management security agent available for mobile phones running Symbian and Windows Mobile OS.
What are the steps a mobile enterprise must take for an integrated security infrastructure?
This depends on what you mean by mobile enterprise – are you referring to mobile operators, or companies that make extensive use of mobile phones and PDAs?
For mobile operators, an integrated security infrastructure means having in place multiple layers of security, and credible defenses against most if not all known threats and attack vectors. This can take the form of segmenting the network and deploying multi-layered security gateway devices in the service delivery network inclusive of firewall, IDS/IPS and AV throughout various segments of the network to protect against cyber criminals and hackers.
For businesses that make extensive use of mobile phones and PDAs, the MIS managers need to begin looking into solutions that will protect information on mobile phones, and especially on PDAs. Microsoft has recently publicized a new feature in Exchange that allows the PDA’s data to be wiped clean in the event that it is lost.
Can end- users download the FortiClient Mobile software or is it integrated in specific handsets?
FortiClient Mobile is currently not ready for General Availability yet. Release dates will be announced soon. The software will be downloadable to the phone, though currently there are no plans to ship the software with any of the handset manufacturers. This situation, however, may change also.
Do you plan to launch more products for the mobile consumer market?
Fortinet does not have a dedicated focus on the consumer market. FortiClient Mobile is primarily targeting mobile subscribers that require a high degree of functionality from their mobile devices and desire to comprehensively secure the efficacy of their mobile device.
|