What’s in a Tablet? Symantec looks to diversification of mobile market in the region

As the region goes mobile, Symantec addresses the specific security needs of one of technology’s fastest growing trends, the rise of the tablet. Currently known to be growing at a triple-digit rate, Symantec looks at why consumers and organizations throughout the GCC must go beyond traditional internet security with tablet protection that extends across new operating platforms that are increasingly coming into focus, both at home and in the workplace.

“It is easy to put today’s tablets in the mobile device category however these are increasingly starting to operate with all the functionality of a desktop or laptop, enhancing the need for organizations and consumers to adopt a consistent approach to protecting themselves across all devices from which they are accessing the Internet. The growth in usage of these devices in the regional market as well as their open operating platform makes them an ideal target for cybercriminals following the money.” says Bulent Teksoz, Chief Security Strategist for Emerging Markets.

The changing trends in mobile have lead to enhanced accessibility to information across a number of different devices, including PCs, smart phones, and tablets. The personal device an individual buys over the weekend more often than not ends up connecting to the business network that next week. 

“As well as providing a rich, multimedia experience in the form of games, movies and music for the consumer, tablets have become a remarkably popular corporate endpoint, providing a new challenge for organizations in how to extend information protection and data loss prevention to this new consumer tool as it makes its way onto the enterprise networks. Individuals want a device that they can use for work and play, allowing them to stay mobile by accessing corporate information remotely - the challenge here for IT in any organization being in the  need to protect and control corporate information regardless of the device it is on and without limiting the productivity,” added Teksoz.

IDC recently raised its forecast for the number of tablets that will be shipped this year by 17 percent, from 53.5 million to 62.5 million, a marked contrast to its gloomy forecast for PC shipments, which it predicts will grow by less than three percent this year. This signals a new trend for IT professionals, who are under increasing pressure to enable employees to use their tablets for business purposes.

Symantec has developed solutions in both the Enterprise and Consumer sphere that work towards protecting end-users in light of this current trend:

Symantec Corp. has announced it 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, designed to maintain user productivity and protect an organization’s confidential data at the same time.

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.