Symantec to protect confidential information from leaving iPad

USA: Symantec Corp. is planning to offer Symantec Data Loss Prevention for Tablet, the first comprehensive data loss prevention (DLP) solution for the monitoring and protection of sensitive information on tablet computers.

Available first for the Apple iPad, Symantec Data Loss Prevention for Tablet will help solve one of the most urgent problems facing security organizations today by providing content-aware protection for this remarkably popular new corporate endpoint. The solution is designed to maintain user productivity and protect an organization’s confidential data at the same time.

According to Symantec’s recent State of Security Survey, organizations are grappling with new security challenges stemming from the proliferation of tablets in the enterprise. Of those surveyed, 47 percent said mobile computing was making it more difficult to provide online security, and 45 percent said the “consumerization of IT” was a concern. The latter category includes new technologies that cross over from consumer to business markets, with tablets replacing laptops as the top concern. As users bring tablets into the enterprise and access the corporate network, IT is faced with the challenge of protecting sensitive business data on those endpoints.

Symantec Data Loss Prevention for Tablet will enable users to utilize the tablets they are demanding while monitoring and controlling the transmission of confidential data from these devices with content awareness. The product is designed to enable organizations to support work and personal use concurrently across corporate and personal email, web communications, and common applications available for the iPad. The protection will extend to the device and information on it irrespective of whether the user is connected via 3G or Wi-Fi. Support for the Android tablet operating system is also scheduled to be available next year.

Symantec Data Loss Prevention for Tablet will be the latest addition to Symantec DLP and Mobile Management solutions. The product is designed to let current Symantec DLP customers leverage their existing investment by utilizing the same policies and management infrastructure. The company also offers a complete set of encryption solutions ranging from full disk encryption and removable storage to email and server solutions. These include the recently announced Symantec PGP Viewer for iOS.

The viewer enables employees of organizations with Symantec PGP Universal Server in place to read encrypted messages on their preferred Apple iOS devices including the iPad and iPhone For example, executive team members can receive and view encrypted copies of a sales report with assurance that both its privacy and security are intact.