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Your iPad Is Not Your iPhone: Get Secure

Friday, December 9th, 2011

Over the past year, we’ve seen the iPad become more prevalent in the corporate world – and why not? Its portability is ideal for employees on the go and users are able to blend work and personal use on a single device. Yet, it’s these two benefits that have introduced new security concerns for IT, with the iPad often treated more like a grown up iPhone than a corporate computer.

Of course, the laid back attitude towards iPad security is understandable. Tablet adoption has been predominantly driven by consumer usage, with public Wi-Fi and cloud computing making it simple to upload and download files and applications at will – whether Angry Birds, grocery coupons or the latest corporate PowerPoint.  But, the freedom of anytime, anywhere access, combined with the increased volume of corporate data being shared via iPads, has blurred the lines between corporate access and casual entertainment.

iPad is not your iPhone Get Secure

Yet, the harsh reality is that malicious apps and malware are the number one security threat to tablet computers, followed by public Wi-Fi eavesdropping.  Phishing attacks are phishing attacks, whether your users are on a PC or an iPad, and enterprises need to implement the same strong security measures regardless of the device.

So, what’s an IT group to do?

Individuals should be able to send, share, and access files and applications, while you ensure they’re protected from malicious content. Accellion Secure Mobile Apps is one viable option – providing around-the-clock secure access to files to a range of mobile devices, plus encrypting documents for future, offline use. Plus, if the device is ever lost or stolen, administrators can easily block access remotely and reset credentials.

Let’s face it: your employees were likely attracted to the iPad because it makes their life easier – and maybe a little more fun. So, the key is to boost security while enabling employees to work and interact exactly as they do today.  The discussion on tablet security is far from over, so look for more insight on our blog.

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Posted in Accellion, Data Security, Product | No Comments »

Accellion and MobileIron Announce Partnership

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Most IT organizations have minimal visibility into what’s on an employee’s phone and how it’s being used, and even less control or insight into information being accessed and shared.

MobileIron and Accellion announced a partnership today to provide our customers with secure mobile device and content management. Together, MobileIron and Accellion help an IT organization to regain control over mobile devices and how employees collaborate and share information from them.

As part of the partnership, Accellion will be one of only seven applications chosen to participate in MobileIron’s AppConnect program.  The goal of AppConnect is to secure MobileIron-developed apps as well as third-party apps on the App Store, Android Market and other mobile app services.

The benefit of the Accellion and MobileIron partnership was summed up by Jason Otani, Director, IT Infrastructure, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, a mutual customer:

Using Accellion Secure Collaboration’s native mobile apps, our teams really appreciate being able to securely collaborate on contracts and engineering plans with internal and external business partners.  MobileIron’s ability to wipe the device clean remotely any time a device is lost or stolen adds another level of security protection against a possible data breach.

For the most up-to-date news and information about this partnership, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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Posted in Accellion, Collaboration, Data Breach, Data Security, Government, Healthcare, Mobile, Product, Virtualization | No Comments »

Catering to the Sophisticated User: Make that a “babe-a-ccino”

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

It was only a matter of time before someone figured out how to tap into the toddler market with a specialty mock coffee drink aptly called the “babe-a-ccino.” Yes, no kidding, there is the photo in the WSJ this morning of a young man, clutching his morsel of croissant, or is it a chai lavendar biscuit, with his “babe-a-ccino.” Invitingly presented in a classic espresso cup, the “babe-a-ccino” seems to consist of frothy milk, a sprinkle of cocoa, and only the suggestion of coffee.

Jack, age 2, drinks a babe-a-ccino at the Seesaw cafe in San Francisco – WSJ

So what exactly does this have to do with business users and software?  Well it’s an interesting example of understanding your audience and catering to their wants and needs.  For the under five year old crowd it tends to be 99% about wants, and depending on the business user it may be the same.  In the case of the “babe-a-ccino” the toddler wants what Mommy or Daddy has, however what they need is a big glass of milk.  Enter the “babe-a-ccino” an excellent compromise between what toddler wants – cute cup, frothy milk and a teaspoon to play with – and what they need which is a decent serving of milk.

Let’s face it, today’s business users are sophisticated in their wants and needs. With easy access to free software they are pushing the envelope on the types of solutions they are bringing into the workplace.  What they want is easy access to information, from any device, easy file sharing with colleagues and outside partners and easy collaboration. What they also need is security and tracking so they stay out of trouble.

It’s hard being a parent but someone has to do it.  Sorry kid.  No, you can’t have a coffee drink.  Not least because I don’t want to deal with you when you are bouncing off the walls later from the caffeine.  Similarly, for the business user: sorry, but no, you cannot use Dropbox for sharing confidential work information.  Not least because no one has a record of what you are doing, and I don’t want to lose my job because of a data breach.  Now comes the big pout.

Enter the “babe-a-ccino.”  Now everyone’s happy.  Kid gets what they want, Mom and Dad are happy too. Consider Accellion the “babe-a-ccino” of file sharing.  It gives the business user what they want, while giving IT/Security teams what they need. Everyone’s happy.

I’ll take my “babe-a-ccino” to go, thanks.

Posted in Accellion, Collaboration, Data Security, Product | No Comments »

Forget the iPod, who wants a cassette deck?

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Last weekend marked the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). While FTP certainly isn’t pretty to use, it has served a purpose.  Originally designed to enable programmers to move files between systems, FTP has continued to serve that purpose nobly for the past 40 years.

However IT departments who have used FTP as the basis for employees to share files across the enterprise, have had less successful results.

Giving FTP to business users as a file sharing solution is akin to imagining your users would be happy using a 40 year old music player rather than an iPod.  As great as the high fidelity cassette deck was when introduced in January of 1971, which would you choose today: the cassette deck or the latest iPod?

 

Photo caption: On January 1, 1971 the high fidelity cassette deck was invented.

FTP sites are notoriously difficult for business users to use and time consuming for IT to administer.  They require too many IT hours for account set-up and there is no easy way to know who has active accounts and who has accessed a particular file. IT administrators are left responsible for creating and deleting accounts and files, an important but tedious process that too often gets pushed to the back burner.  When files and FTP accounts are not terminated in a timely manner, businesses are exposed to security risks.

It’s time to move on.  Technology continues to evolve. Think how much happier your users will be with the file sharing equivalent of the iPod – it’s called Accellion Secure File Transfer and Collaboration.

Posted in Accellion, FTP, Product | No Comments »

If a tree falls in a forest, and no one hears it, does it make a sound?

Friday, April 15th, 2011

If a tree falls in a forest, and no one hears it, does it make a sound?  Or the file sharing equivalent – if an employee uses a free personal file sharing account, and IT doesn’t know about it, does it still present a security risk?  You bet it does.

This week’s CIO UK article entitled CIOs: Break security rules to make them better raises an important point that IT needs to get involved with the applications and devices that employees are bringing into the workplace in order to improve security.

IT experimentation with consumer oriented services lets IT see the type of services that employees are looking for but also gives IT firsthand knowledge and experience of the alarming security implications.

Anyone who has signed up for a free dropbox type of account knows how convenient it is for syncing files.  At the same time anyone with a sense of information security gets this niggling feeling that something isn’t quite right about the ease of moving files out of the organization.

So if employees are using free personal file sharing accounts for enterprise use and IT doesn’t know about it, does it create a data security and compliance risk?  You bet it does.  In fact an informal survey of IT folks indicates that in most organizations IT does know that employees are using a variety of free personal  file sharing apps.

So what’s a good approach for IT to deal with this?  A good first step would be to signup for a free file sharing account and see firsthand not only how easy it is to use but also how easy it is to abuse.  Then make it a priority to deploy an enterprise solution for secure file sharing that makes everyone happy.  Let us suggest Accellion.

Posted in Accellion, Data Breach, Data Security, Product | No Comments »

“Forget telling execs they can’t use their new shiny iPad”

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

Thanks Mike Rothman, analyst and president at security research firm Securosis, for pointing out in this week’s CSO article by George Hulme, that denying execs the use of their shiny new iPads is not going to make anyone popular. We agree with you Mike, “You have to try to find a way to secure these devices the best you can.”

Judging by the lines outside the Apple stores, more iPads are heading into the enterprise, so this issue is not going away. What’s the big deal with iPads? George Hulme sums it up perfectly “One of the biggest challenges the consumerization of IT creates for the enterprises is the lack of control over where work data is stored and how it’s shared on user devices.”

So if your execs are starting to show their high-tech flair, bringing iPads into the office – here’s our Accellion iPad security tip to keep everyone happy and secure:

Implement Accellion Secure Collaboration so that execs have secure access to sensitive information from their iPads but the information is stored on secure servers not on their iPads.

The result:

i) Your execs get to use their shiny new iPads to easily and securely access and share information with internal and external users.

ii) Confidential information is stored securely on IT managed servers.

iii) You have complete tracking of all file activity including dates and times of all downloads, uploads and recipients.

iv) When your exec leaves their iPad at the client site, on the train, in a conference room, you don’t need to call in a SWAT team, Accellion has you covered and your files are safe.

Here’s a link to more information about Accellion mobile apps. It’s the app every exec with a shiny iPad needs, so they don’t tarnish your company’s security.

 

Posted in Accellion, Collaboration, Data Breach, Data Security, Mobile, Product | 2 Comments »

Observations from Gartner Portals, Content and Collaboration Summit – Part I

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Accellion is participating at the Gartner Portals, Content and Collaboration (PCC) Summit this week as part of the launch of our new Secure Collaboration Solution.

A couple of interesting takeaways from the first day of the Gartner Summit:

Hybrid cloud deployments will be the norm for enterprise deployments of portals, content and collaboration as enterprise organizations balance security and cost management. Accommodating the security requirements of different geographies, users and information sensitivity means public cloud only solutions are not viable for most enterprise organizations.  This was good to hear given Accellion’s breadth of on-premise and in-the-cloud public, private and hybrid deployment options for secure collaboration and file transfer.

The real value of enterprise content is when it is in-motion being shared with people inside and outside the organization. Enterprise content management systems represent content at rest, which for most organizations is a cost. When this content is shared as part of a business process in the form of legal contracts, product designs, sales proposals, then it generates value for the organization. Sounds good to us, since Accellion is all about sharing information securely.

More today at the conference on the mobile worker and the social enterprise.  Accellion iPhone and iPad app demo got a good workout yesterday at the Exhibit – devices are both recharged for today.

Posted in Accellion, Cloud, Collaboration, Product | No Comments »

Mind the Gap – Bridging the Security Gap in Microsoft’s Communication and Collaboration platform

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Microsoft’s Communication and Collaboration platform comprising Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office Communications Server R2 and Microsoft SharePoint streamlines how organizations connect people, processes and information. Microsoft SharePoint alone boasts 100MM+ users. Throw in Exchange and Microsoft OCS R2 and the user base balloons. However communication and collaboration is not limited to corporate boundaries and the out-of-the-box file transfer capabilities provided within Outlook, OCS and SharePoint do not provide a guaranteed secure delivery path to all users.

To work efficiently and share information securely across organizational boundaries requires an additional file transfer security layer to bridge the security gap in Microsoft’s communication and collaboration platform.

Punching holes in firewalls, managing separate server farms to serve the external user community, changing network topology, adding servers to the DMZ adds a tremendous amount of IT management and licensing cost to maintain this additional infrastructure.

Today we announced general availability of the Accellion secure file transfer plug-ins for the Microsoft Business Productivity Suite.  The Accellion plug-ins enable Microsoft SharePoint, Outlook and OCS users to quickly and securely send information from within Outlook, the Office Communicator Client or from the SharePoint Document Library to both internal and external parties.  Best of all the organization has complete tracking of all file transfers to ensure compliance and data security.

• Want to send and track a file from the Microsoft SharePoint library to an external collaborator?
• Want to send a 2G file without hampering the performance of the Exchange server?
• Want to send a file securely during chat within Microsoft OCS?

No problem, with the Accellion Microsoft Business Productivity secure file transfer plug-ins.  Designed for fast, easy deployment, the Accellion secure file transfer plug-ins for Microsoft Outlook, SharePoint and OCS allow organizations to maximize the utilization and performance of these solutions while closing the security gap.

Posted in Accellion, Data Security, Email Attachments, Product | No Comments »

It’s an Automated Life

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

I recently visited a friend who praised her Roomba…her robot vacuum cleaner.  That conversation got me thinking about the futuristic Jetson’s cartoon from the 1980s where George Jetson and his wife Jane employed a robot maid named Rosie to cook, clean, and do mundane tasks for them.  We might not be flying saucers to work in 2010, but we do automate many things to make our lives more productive.  We use auto-pay to pay our bills on time.    We use banking apps to show us when our account is running low on funds. Automation has become part of our daily lives at work and at home.

It may be a bit of a stretch, but the Accellion Automation Solution Suite’s auto-clean up functionality is a little like the Jetson’s robot maid Rosie.  Rosie vacuumed the Jetson’s space-age house to eliminate all the clutter in order to create a safe environment for the Jetson kids – Judy and Elroy.  Accellion Automation enables businesses and government agencies to transfer files automatically and securely, and cleans up after itself to keep organizations safe.

Accellion’s Automation Solution Suite is a comprehensive group of products that streamlines business processes and centralizes the management of all secure file transfers.  For example, with Accellion Automation, retail businesses can ensure that point of sale (POS) data is sent securely from individual branch offices to headquarters every night.  Design firms can scan large design documents and then transfer them securely via Accellion Automation. Entertainment companies can send ticket specials to clients every weekend via Accellion Automation Agents.  All clients have to do is click on the Accellion secure link in their email to download the ticket information.

So while Accellion might not be able to turn your organization into Cosmos from the Jetson’s, at least you can automate secure file transfers and do it in style.

Posted in Accellion, Automation, Product | No Comments »

A Little Privacy Please

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

TechCrunch is one of my favorite sites to get the latest tech gossip.  Who wouldn’t want to know about Mark Zuckerberg’s personal life, Carol Bartz’s liberal use of the F-word, and of course breaking technology news?

Last week’s post by TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington caught my eye.   Arrington emphatically states that Google employees found abusing user data should be criminally prosecuted.  I couldn’t agree with him more.   Google recently fired two employees for inappropriately accessing user data but hasn’t commented on whether employees will be charged with any crime.

With Google and other search engines having an un-Godly amount of user data, I wondered what life would be like if all of our data was secured.  What if all our emails were encrypted and file attachments kept away from prying eyes?

For those trying to ensure that Yahoo/Bing and Google stay at arm’s length, might I suggest In-Private Browsing which prevents the browser from storing information on your browsing session.

As for protecting the integrity of email file attachments, Accellion offers a FIPS 140-2 certified solution that is secure enough for federal, state and local governments to quickly and easily send and receive files using the Accellion managed file transfer system.  With Accellion, corporations and their employees can protect documents from prying eyes and meet compliance regulations.

Posted in Accellion, Data Security, Email Attachments, Product | No Comments »

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