*It's rare of me to post an unsought press-release, but the implications here are something-else. Travel to Saudi Arabia, and have your iPhone immediately Saudi-Arabianized! If nation-states could have had this handy service thirty years ago, the Internet would have never existed.
*Balkanization R Us!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mobile Active Defense Launches GeoLocation-Based Firewall
and Content Filtering for iPhones and Smartphones
ATLANTA, Jan. 20, 2011 – Mobile Active Defense (M.A.D.
Partners, LLC) announces the release of its patent-pending
mobile firewall and contents filtering mechanisms that
enforce controls based upon the physical location of the
mobile device. The award-winning Mobile Enterprise
Compliance and Security Server (MECS) provides stringent and
comprehensive access, security and compliance enforcement
mechanisms to echo fixed enterprise policies.
With the addition of GeoLocation controls, Mobile Active
Defense (M.A.D.) offers organizations around the world a new
range of previously unavailable flexibility over the content
filtering and access rights of iPhones, iPads, smartphones
and tablet devices. (((Tough break if you're an individual
rather than an "organization," but that's kinda the point.)))
Government and private organizations face an increasing risk
to their smartphones and tablet devices as employees travel
around the globe. Often the cultural requirements of certain
countries or regions differ radically. For example, Saudi
Arabia and many other countries deem any adult content to be
extremely offensive. With MECS' GeoLocation, the enforcement
policies automatically change when arriving in Saudi Arabia,
or any other location that has similar cultural
sensitivities. ((("Wait a minute – where's my Wikileaks feed?
Hey look! They've never heard of that guy here!")))
Rob Smith, co-founder and CTO of M.A.D., remembers a meeting
in which a U.S. government agency had a specific request.
"They essentially asked us to have a virtually unlimited
number of firewalls for each iPhone and iPad, so they could
enforce different security policies depending upon the
physical location of the user's device."
Smith subsequently met with Middle East representatives who
had similar requests for Regional Location Controls. "I
showed them Playboy.com on my iPad with no Geo-enforced
controls. Then I turned GEO controls on and Playboy and
other sites returned a blank page. Needless to say, this is
exactly what they were looking for."
A company's policies might dictate another set of policies
for France or China or any other region of the world. This
innovative addition resulted due to an initial need to
respond to various political and cultural sensitivity issues
organizations are facing around the world. (((Maybe I can
get a Brazilian version, so my world is saturated with erotica
and I never have to listen to a conservative pundit again.)))
SRA International's Adam Meyers, Director, Cyber Security
Intelligence, says about M.A.D.'s GeoLocation capabilities,
"GeoLocation-based rules allow you to consider location when
creating security policy. I'm not aware of any other product
that considers location and mobile security at the same
time, which seems pretty intuitive. Smartphones are mobile;
threats change in different locations."
The applications for M.A.D.'s GeoLocation enforcement seem
endless. (((Yes, they rather do, now that you bring that up.)))
Healthcare companies require different rules if
doctors are at a medical facility or when traveling. Some
companies need to restrict access to corporate assets when
their employees are traveling to places where industrial
espionage is a concern.
Winn Schwartau, Chairman of the Board of M.A.D., said, "I am
astounded daily with how creative our customers can be. We
work with them to apply a range of mobile security solutions
for their needs that have to adapt to their specific
situations. It's incredibly exciting to be forging such new
territories and applying the vast flexibility M.A.D. offers
to new levels of security and compliance."
MECS' GeoLocation contains 3 different components - the
real-time map, geo-location rule base option and reporting.
The GEO functions of M.A.D.'s MECS are also a major
cost-saver to organizations. When employees travel, data
communications costs can skyrocket. By restricting access to
certain capabilities based upon location, MECS pays for
itself in just one overseas trip.
About M.A.D.:
M.A.D. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA with offices in San
Jose, CA and London, England. With over 100 years of
combined experience in security hardware, software product
design and development M.A.D.'s mission is to create
innovative, high-quality and easy-to-use security
applications for smartphones and tablet devices. M.A.D. has
recently been selected by SC Magazine as a finalist in the
2011 Excellence Award Category "Rookie Security Company of
the Year," awarded the Frost & Sullivan 2011 New Product
Innovation of the Year Award, featured in a report by global
Analyst Group Ovum in December 2010 and included in the
Gartner Inc. report on the MDM Landscape of Mobile Security
Vendors. M.A.D. is actively participating in the upcoming
Mobile Security Symposium on February 14th in San Francisco,
CA (along with SRA International, AT&T, Koolspan and
Symantec). http://www.MobileActiveDefense.com
For more information, contact Jackie Baumann,
[email protected]
