IBM and AT&T partner up for mobile cloud security

AT&T and IBM have come together to provide a joint cloud-based cyber security offering that aims to improve the security level of mobile devices on corporate networks. The new offering involves the integration of a number of security capabilities and provides a space which enables a workforce to be productive without compromising security and the mobile user experience.

Protecting the digital boundaries of organisations has become more and more problematic as hackers develop ever more sophisticated techniques for breaching system to collect sensitive information. In recent times, a number of high profile organisations, including for instance the US Government, Amazon and Sony, have been compromised. These attacks released a wide range of personally identifiable information into the public sphere, while seriously damaging the reputation and trustworthiness of organisations. A recent ‘AT&T Cybersecurity Insights’ report highlights that DDoS attacks are up 62% in the past two years, and cybercriminals are more and more often attacking mobile devices on corporate networks. Another report, commissioned by the HM Government and conducted by PwC, shows that cyber security costs from breaches in the UK range from just under £1.5 million to £3.14 million for large organisations.

To combat the threat within the mobile space, the new offering from IBM in its partnership with AT&T, seeks to create a cloud-based environment that protects the information which travels between customers, partners and employees across devices. The need for such a service was highlighted by research from IBM that discovered that nearly half of all companies do no allocate a budget to securing their apps.

The new offering will provide clients with a cloud based solution that secures the device, connectivity and data. The service leverages a number of already existent IBM and AT&T architectures, including:

1. IBM MobileFirst Protect: helps organisations manage and control mobile devices, apps and documents.
2. AT&T NetBond: provides a high secure, scalable network connection to IBM's Cloud infrastructure services, SoftLayer.
3. IBM Cloud: the SoftLayer infrastructure secures public and private clouds for applications and data storage.
4. AT&T Work Platform: enables separate billing of business and personal charges for voice, messaging and data use on an employee’s personal handset.

“More employees are using mobile devices to be more productive. At the same time, data and apps are moving to the cloud. The changes are exciting, but security needs to be top-of-mind,” comments Steve McGaw, Chief Marketing Officer of AT&T Business Solutions, on the new service. “Trusted collaborators like IBM are helping us better address changing business models. Together we’re giving options to deliver highly secure mobile access to cloud apps and data.”

Caleb Barlow, Vice-President of IBM Security, adds: “Balancing employees’ need for convenience with security has become a challenge for CISOs and CIOs across the world. To help protect organisations, employees and data, IBM Security and AT&T are delivering a tested and easy to deploy set of complimentary tools. We’re giving enterprise mobile device users stable, private access to data and apps in the cloud.”