Sophos has announced Sophos Mobile Control 3.5, the latest version of its mobile device management (MDM) solution.
Available both on-premise and as-a-service, Sophos Mobile Control 3.5 makes it simple for small and mid-market organisations to secure, monitor and control mobile devices. This new release adds support for Windows Phone 8, as well as reporting and simplified administration to make BYOD (bring your own device) policies easy to define, implement and enforce.
Some recent industry estimates report that as many as 96% of organisations now have employees who use both corporate-managed and personal mobile devices for work purposes, forcing IT to adopt new strategies to protect their data on those devices.
Even though huge numbers of smartphones and tablets are lost every day, many users don’t enable even basic password protection. Mobile malware and hacking is on the rise and many workers are still using unsecured personal mobile devices to access corporate data – a major concern for organisations trying to protect data while letting users work how they want.
“Sophos Mobile Control provides the complete security that IT requires to confidently embrace employee device mobility. This latest version delivers Windows Phone 8 support alongside iPhone/iPad and Android, with self-enrolment and self-service capabilities for users, and allows IT to manage the complete device lifecycle as well as loss and theft scenarios,” says Brett Myroff, CEO of Sophos distributor, NetXactics.
Also included is an easy-to-use client app, which provides access to compliance status, messages and support information – allowing for comprehensive reporting and giving IT a holistic view of devices.
Simpler administration is delivered by an updated menu, dashboard and various other workflow improvements. The SaaS version of Sophos Mobile Control 3.5 delivers better integration into corporate IT with a new remote Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) Proxy that enables organisations to block non-compliant devices from receiving email, and remote LDAP support that allows users to easily connect to Active Directory.
“There are now more smartphones and tablets in use than PCs, so protecting personal mobile devices is a critical piece of any modern IT security strategy, yet many organisations still struggle to enable simple, secure use of these devices.
“Most Mobile Device Management products were designed for large enterprise security specialists and are impractical for over-stretched IT professionals serving small and medium sized organisations,” says Myroff.
“Sophos has designed its product to be simple and effective from the start. Customers recognise that simple security is better security, be it mobile, endpoint or network. With the latest release of Sophos Mobile Control, the company continues to make security simple to deploy and enforce, with consistent and robust protection for all devices.”