Mobile Security

For those with Android 4.0, this week’s Chrome beta release is exciting and for some long awaited. Anticipated since 2008, Google is offering the latest browser direct from the Android Market, alleviating users from the wait for an operating system upgrade from handset makers.

The Chrome for Android beta is based on Chrome 16.0.915.75. Unfortunately for some this version is only for devices running Ice Cream Sandwich (namely Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone and Motorola’s Xoom tablet). Google is asking users to file bug reports. The company is also making a plea to the developer community and launched a new developer site specifically for those that might be interested in working with Chrome and Android. 

Mobile web is quickly becoming a hot area with makers trying to mimic the desktop experience with a mobile device and being able to sync between the two. Firefox mobile browser and now Chrome for Android are clear steps in that direction.

Much of the demand for a seamless experience while surfing comes from consumers and mobile workers alike. The BYOD (bring your own device) trend has now reached critical mass in many organizations. Last month analyst organization IDC stated that by 2015 the world’s mobile worker population will reach 1.3 billion, representing 37.2% of the total workforce. This growth is enabled not only by the ease of use and increasing functionality of smartphones, but also the sheer penetration of smartphones into different markets in a range of price points.

All over the Net this week readers are seeing articles quoting a report from analyst organization Canalys that found more smartphones were shipped by vendors than client PCs in 2011, even with pads, notebooks, netbooks and desktops in the client PC category.

“In 2011 we saw a fall in demand for netbooks, and slowing demand for notebooks and desktops as a direct result of rising interest in pads,” explains Chris Jones, VP and principal analyst for Canalys. “But pads have had negligible impact on smart phone volumes and markets across the globe have seen persistent and substantial growth through 2011. Smart phone shipments overtaking those of client PCs should be seen as a significant milestone. In the space of a few years, smart phones have grown from being a niche product segment at the high-end of the mobile phone market to becoming a truly mass-market proposition. The greater availability of smart phones at lower price points has helped tremendously, but there has been a driving trend of increasing consumer appetite for Internet browsing, content consumption and engaging with apps and services on mobile devices.” 

Even as the Android market grows, and Chrome for Android will only accelerate it, Apple, according to Canalys, had an amazing 2011. “Apple’s impressive end to the year resulted in it becoming the leading smart phone and client PC vendor in Q4 2011, with shipments of 37.0 million iPhones, 15.4 million iPads and 5.2 million Macs. It also smashed the record for the most smart phones shipped globally by any single vendor in one quarter, beating Nokia’s previous record of 28.3 million shipped in Q4 2010. Moreover, Apple’s performance meant that it displaced Nokia, for the first time, as the leading smart phone vendor by annual shipments. Apple shipped 93.1 million iPhones in 2011, representing growth of 96% over 2010. The iPhone 4S benefited from pent-up demand resulting from the launch coming in October rather than June, but Apple’s overall volume was also buoyed by continued shipments of the now more aggressively priced iPhone 4 and 3GS models.”

The growth in smartphone and other devices, and the BYOD trend, has prompted the organizers of RSA Conference 2012 to introduce a mobile security breakout track this year. (The show takes place later this month.) The description of the track says, “Sessions focus on managing employee-owned devices, smartphone/tablet security, and mobile security policies. In this track you’ll find information on, mobile malware, handling eDiscovery on employee-owned devices, mobile application threats, managing consumerization, and emerging threats to mobile devices and mobile workers.”

As we have seen in the past, where the people are, malware writers are not far behind. Mobile security features, at least from an IT department’s perspective, just might be the future driver of BYOD recommendations.