F-Secure Targets BYOD Security Incidents with New Service

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Cyber security firm F-Secure launches Freedome for Business to help businesses secure BYOD and company-owned fleets of mobile devices.

HELSINKI, FINLAND – April 14, 2015 — /BackupReview.info/ — Today’s employees want to use whatever device they need to get the job done. This means many companies are embracing bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, but often at the expense of their own security. Freedome for Business, a new service launched by F-Secure, gives companies the best of both worlds by offering them a single service that meets the security needs of companies as well as the flexibility demands of employees.

Freedome for Business is a version of F-Secure’s Freedome app that’s been tailored to fit the needs of a modern, mobile business. It retains the consumer variant’s popular one-button interface, but adds a comprehensive set of business-oriented features to help companies protect their data and network security. The software integrates three different types of protection that are important for modern companies into a single, cloud-based security service: encrypted communications, app and web security, and mobile fleet management.

BYOD can now offer productivity and security
“The current trend in business mobility is to allow employees to use the devices they’re most comfortable with. It’s cheap for companies and efficient for employees”, says Pekka Usva, F-Secure Vice President, Corporate Security. “Trying to manage all of these different kinds of hardware and software poses unique security challenges, and offering these companies a security as a service solution for their growing mobile fleets is a tremendous opportunity for our service partners”.

Research from Gartner confirms that the BYOD trend is growing. The firm projects that 38% of businesses will stop providing employees with company-owned devices by 2016.* And a more recent survey highlights the potential security risks this carries, with nearly one in four BYOD users admitting their devices have had issues with their security**. Putting these figures together adds up to a potentially crippling gap in cyber security – one that former White House cyber security advisor Richard Clarke described as the “largest vulnerability” facing corporate America***.

According to Usva, these BYOD trends are indicative of how frustrating cyber security can be for employees. “Many businesses implement security solutions that employees find restrictive or confusing, so they cut-corners by simply using their personal devices. Freedome for Business takes the one-button interface that’s been a success with consumers and turns it into an effective security solution for companies. People can simply tap a button to activate the security software, and then get to work”.

One policy to rule them all
Companies implement Freedome for Business through F-Secure’s Protection Service for Business (PSB) suite. PSB is built on the same technology that’s won AV-TEST’s annual “Best Protection” award for the past 4 years, and Freedome for Business now extends this award-winning protection to cover mobile devices connecting to the company’s network. It lets employees encrypt their communications and secure their apps and web browsing with the tap of a button. But it also gives companies the ability to implement additional forms of security, such as anti-theft protection, to make sure any devices used for business stay secure.

“The anti-theft capabilities let IT managers do things like lock devices with randomly generated passcodes, or wipe data remotely. It’s a key feature because it protects companies against data breaches caused by lost or stolen devices”, says F-Secure Technical Product Manager Sebastian Neittamo. “IT managers can also see the security status of devices, so if they notice employees doing something dangerous like visiting an alarming number of malicious websites, they can take action to address the issue before it leads to a security incident”.

Neittamo says that allowing companies to manage devices from a central interface lets them monitor the mobile security of devices without imposing complicated restrictions on what employees can or cannot do while working. It also merges the personal devices of employees with the company’s overall approach to cyber security, effectively integrating PC or post-PC BYOD devices and company-owned devices into a single, secure fleet.

Freedome for Business currently supports Android and iOS devices, and is available now. You can find more information about Freedome for Business and PSB on F-Secure’s website.

*Source: http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2466615
**Source : http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2739617
***Source : http://goo.gl/mPHRDS

More information:
Freedome for Business – http://www.f-secure.com/PSB
Protection Service for Business – http://goo.gl/dA2vgD

F-Secure – Switch on freedom
F-Secure is an online security and privacy company from Finland. We offer millions of people around the globe the power to surf invisibly and share stuff, safe from online threats. We are here to fight for digital freedom. Join the movement and switch on freedom.

Founded in 1988, F-Secure is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.
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F-Secure media relations
Karolina Malagocka
+48 601 203 062

Source: F-Secure

Tags: F-Secure