Many organizations around the world are undergoing a mobile business transformation to achieve higher efficiencies, improve client relations, and increase business growth. There has been immense growth in mobile device and tablet sales. With easy-to-use interfaces, and the convenience to connect and collaborate with ever-increasing network bandwidth from almost anyplace, the has engulfed consumers and workers from all generations.

Organizations want to make use of these technology innovations for the workforce, and for reaching a larger number of clients and business partners. However, C-level executives, information security experts, and risk professionals are faced with the challenge of securing the organization’s information and application data on a variety of mobile devices.

Security has emerged as the most important aspect of this mobile revolution, because the organization’s information and data are distributed beyond their secure perimeter. Also, transactions are run on mobile devices, which can be shared and are often personally owned. Security compliance for those devices is usually not managed by the organization.

The purpose of this IBM® Redguide™ publication about creating and maintaining a secure operating environment for mobile devices is to provide detailed insight into the following topics::

• The growing importance of mobile devices
• Emerging mobile computing business patterns and associated security risks
• Mobile security threats, vulnerabilities, and risks
• Mobile security implementation patterns
• IBM solutions for mobile security

This publication can help organizations adopt mobile technology innovations for their workforce and clients alike. Clients can be addressed with new personalized capabilities that have to be delivered in a secure and compliant manner. In addition, employees can be supported to stay on top of their key work activities and actions to maintain productivity and, at the same time, protect organizational data with state of the art security capabilities.

Executive overview

The growing importance of mobile devices

Emerging mobile computing business patterns and associated security risks

Mobile security threats, vulnerabilities, and risks

Mobile security implementation patterns

IBM solutions for mobile security