Mobile Helix bursts onto data security scene

There's a new player in the data security market, as Mobile Helix launches itself both as a company and showcases its inaugural collaboration and storage product, Link.

Based on HTML-5, Link is a new collaboration application for the enterprise that, the company claims, focuses around data security, rather than device security.

This, the organisation suggests, allows companies to fully embrace the trend of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), even if the devices in question have been rendered less secure, for example through jail breaking.

According to Matt Bancroft, president and COO of Mobile Helix, this is possible thanks to a combination of technologies wrapped up in Link.

"We start with the assumption that your device may be rooted or jailbroken, but that the data needs to remain secure. Therefore, our security model is designed with that in mind; there is a secure container on the device and everything that is sensitive or corporate information sits inside that container," Bancroft told IT Pro.

All information is rendered and delivered through the browser, with the application itself remaining within the enterprise data centre, although a client app, the container' does run on the device itself.

This, Bancroft said, allows integration with the device so that other permitted applications, such as the built-in camera, can exchange information as needed.

Furthermore, the data is encrypted at all times, whether it is at rest or in transit, using a device-independent encryption technology, which Bancroft said gives an additional layer of security.

"This way, our solution is not dependent on pin codes for security, which a lot of other security technologies are," Bancroft said.

Bancroft also claimed that even if a device is lost or stolen, the data on it is still secure.

"In order to start a session, you have to enter a username and password, as well as any other authentication requirements set in place by your business to access their enterprise network," Bancroft said.

Finally, Link also allows for remote wiping.

Bancroft added that by putting data security, rather than device security at the heart of the application, and by using HTML5, Mobile Helix has been able to overcome what the company considers to be the "fundamentally flawed" concept that apps for fixed and mobile devices need to be separate.

Link also integrates with most existing enterprise platforms, Bancroft said, which he claims eliminates the need for companies to try and re-write their entire IT systems for the web.

Vishal Jain, an analyst at 451 Research specialising in mobile services tolid IT Pro: "Mobile Helix's support for mobile web apps along with MAM [mobile app management] features looks like an interesting proposition in the enterprise mobility management market. Several of the container and secure productivity suites from MAM and MDM vendors offer a secure browser but a pure-play mobile web app [strategy] seems very interesting.

"[Additionally] HTML5 adoption is on the rise and if they can convince enterprises to deploy their HTML5 web apps using this secure browser then it is a goldmine."

Link is compatible with Android, iOS, Windows and Mac OS operating systems and is available immediately.