TMCnet Feature Free eNews Subscription
February 25, 2013

Mocana Helps Developers Quickly Secure Mobile Applications for Enterprise BYOD Use

By Peter Bernstein, Senior Editor

The RSA event in San Francisco has started with a nice buzz. App security company Mocana (News - Alert) started the festivities with introduction of its MAP Developers Program, designed to enable ISVs and internal enterprise mobile app developers to quickly meet best-in-class security requirements for enterprise deployment of mobile applications.  



This one intuitively makes sense, and is likely to please not just developers, but IT professionals seeking to regain control over the chaos being created by various lines of business, bypassing IT in order to speedily take advantage of mobile apps and public cloud connectivity to meet the demands of BYOD users. 

This, by the way, includes in a growing number of cases C-levels who are running their businesses on their smartphones and tablets.

Wrap IT

Mocana’s Mobile App Protection (MAP) program lets developers “test-wrap” their apps with Mocana’s Mobile App Protection (MAP) for free. The idea is to create a type of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, where stiif security-conscious customers like financial institutions and government agencies could know in advance that they can custom secure the apps with Mocana MAP.

As explained by Mocana, the MAP Developers Program gives developers free access to the new MAP Testing Workbench. This is an online self-certification service where test-wrapping is done. The advantage cited is that the process helps developers reduce their security engineering costs, while enabling faster enterprise deployment based on trust in the process.

Plus, free support from Mocana is available to help developers through the testing process, and the program also provides third-party developers opportunities to co-market with Mocana.

“Whether an app is built in-house, by a contractor or by a dedicated third-party ISV, most mobile application developers don’t have the resources, time or crypto expertise to custom-secure their app for each enterprise customer. But most enterprise customers demand just that,” said Kurt Stammberger, CISSP and vice president of market development at Mocana. “MAP lets developers focus on creating amazing apps while satisfying enterprise security requirements, especially in BYOD contexts.” 

According to Stammberger, enterprises using MAP can customize apps they deploy with fine-grained security policies in seconds. Strong authentication, FIPS 140-2 data-at-rest encryption and per-app VPNs are just a few of the options available. 

Mocana MAP can apply new security features to almost any Android (News - Alert) or iOS app.

The value of recognized TRUST

Because speed to market and speed in the market are so critical these days, everyone both developing and deploying mobile apps have a capability that comes in essence pre-screened – or can be trusted – is critical.

This is particularly true when dealing with the government market. 

A good example of this was noted by Ron Goins, chief operating officer at NitroDesk , which has over two million users of its TouchDown product, a leading ActiveSync e-mail solution for securing corporate e-mail on mobile devices.

He stated, “We are excited to offer the Mocana MAP solution as an integrated part of TouchDown for Government Agencies. Making TouchDown Exchange MAP-READY gives decision makers the ability to adapt their applications on the fly, so that as roles change within the enterprise, security concerns can be addressed almost instantly. The MAP wrapping process is so fast there is no longer a barrier to deployment.”

Others citing the speed for development and value of being MAP-Ready included Yongzhi Yang, CEO at Dolphin, maker of the world’s most popular third-party mobile browser, who said, “Working collaboratively with Mocana allows us to deliver a secure and intuitive mobile web browser for the enterprise…Making Dolphin for Business MAP-READY will provide corporate users with the option to secure access to both the Web and corporate networks, while also providing data-at-rest encryption.”

Executives from ISVs Atimi Software, bigtincan and Breezy, all echoed these thoughts as well.

The way to think about this is that Mocana is providing the community something akin to the tapper-proof containers for medication that helped spur the off-the-shelf medication market years ago. Like I said, this is certainly an extra ounce of protection that is worth considering, and has gotten the show off to a nice start. 

The Mocana MAP Developers Program and MAP Testing Workbench are free of charge and available now at www.mocana.com/mdp. If you’re an ISV or an internal mobile app developer, the price alone should be alluring enough to seek more details. It maybe what can help break down barriers inside of enterprises so that IT can go back to being part of the solution, rather than viewed as part of a problem.




Edited by Braden Becker
» More TMCnet Feature Articles
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]
SHARE THIS ARTICLE

LATEST TMCNET ARTICLES

» More TMCnet Feature Articles