Blue Coat Introduces Mobile Applications Controls

Blue Coat Systems, a market and technology provider in web security and WAN optimisation solutions has introduced mobile applications controls in India, to prevent security breaches by unsanctioned mobile applications on the corporate network.

Its managing director for India sales, Ambarish Deshpande said the move was to help Indian enterprises manage the proliferation of consumer technology, which has led to more employees bringing their own devices to work.

He added that the growth of Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) initiatives in India has created a situation where IT security managers are facing a deluge of untrusted, unmanaged devices and applications on the corporate network.

“For the first time, Blue Coat through its mobile application controls give Indian administrators the ability to not only determine which applications are allowed on the network, but also to what extent mobile device users are able to interact with those applications,” Ambarish said.

The increase in mobile devices on the corporate network creates two distinct risks that lead to undesired or unpredictable network impacts. First, it contributes to the growing problem of unsanctioned applications on the corporate network. Second, corporate policies cannot be consistently enforced across all devices.

Like web-based applications, the use of mobile applications is dramatically eroding IT control of the network. Unlike browser-based web applications, however, mobile applications and their corresponding operations are typically self-contained and fall outside the control of traditional web security solutions.

To prevent unauthorised or undesired use of the corporate network, Blue Coat mobile application controls uniquely extend to mobile applications the same granular operational controls the company provides for web-based applications. With these operational controls, businesses can set policies around specific functions within both web-based and mobile applications. This enables businesses to consistently enforce policy across all devices and allows them to regain control over the applications on their network.

For example, a business that wants to mitigate unintentional leaks of confidential or secure location information could set a policy for Twitter that prevents employees from sending tweets but allows full reading or monitoring access. Blue Coat mobile application controls extend that web-based application policy to the Twitter mobile application, allowing read-only access across all devices on the network.

The new mobile application controls are integrated into the Blue Coat ProxySG appliances and the Blue Coat Cloud Service. Blue Coat adds new applications and operations to its mobile application controls on a monthly basis to continually enhance the value delivered to customers and ensure they have the most relevant controls to manage the applications on their network. The mobile application controls are automatically updated through the Blue Coat WebPulse collaborative defence and immediately available to customers with current support contracts.