AT&T Unveils New Mobile Security Strategy

The rise of smartphones and tablets brings unprecedented mobility, but with the convenience of being able to carry and access information from virtually anywhere comes an increased threat that attackers can also steal or access your information from virtually anywhere. AT&T announced today that it is taking proactive steps to strengthen mobile security by investing in a new mobile security platform.

AT&T's mobile security strategy is built around a partnership with Juniper Networks. The mobile security platform will allow customers to better protect their devices against security threats.

Smartphone security — IT admins and consumers alike need better mobile security tools.

AT&T is not the first to realize that mobile security is a rapidly evolving concern, but it is in a unique position as a provider of both wired and wireless services, and its security solution is aimed at providing a comprehensive platform that integrates security policies and protection across both for consumers, as well as for business and government customers.

"AT&T's vision and approach to mobile security is the right one at the right time", said Christine Liebert, senior analyst for Security Services at IDC. "AT&T is offering enterprises the ability to remotely remove or encrypt data on mobile devices and to have this function centrally administered. This should help businesses control what type of data can be downloaded to a smartphone or tablet, one of the biggest enterprise security risks."

The AT&T Mobile Security platform will enable businesses to implement and enforce mobile security policies, maintain compliance with industry and government regulations regarding data protection, and protect mobile devices from mobile malware threats.

"Mobile security is the 'next frontier' for our continued effort to mitigate cyber-threats and to help protect our customers' information," said Ed Amoroso, Chief Security Officer for AT&T. "With the help of Juniper Networks and the power of AT&T Labs and the AT&T Mobility Security Research Center behind us, we'll be able to deliver new security capabilities to provide peace of mind to companies and consumers alike."

There are other mobile security tools out there, but most are device or vendor specific. A solution like this is a step in the right direction because it takes a more high-level approach to mobile security that encompasses the consumerization of IT, and the broad ecosystem of mobile devices with one, centrally-managed application.

The first phase of the platform--the AT&T Mobile Security application--is expected to be available later this year and is based on the Juniper Networks Junos Pulse solution.