Almost 1/3 of Americans Own an E-Reader or a Tablet

According to new research released by the good people at The Pew Internet Project,  "the share of adults in the United States who own tablet computers nearly doubled from 10% to 19% between mid-December and early January and the same surge in growth also applied to e-book readers, which also jumped from 10% to 19% over the same time period." This brings the total number of Americans who own at least one tablet or e-reader to 29%.

This study puts solid numbers on the tablet and e-reader market growth speculations. It is becoming more and more important for organizations to look into how they are going to integrate tablet and, more broadly,  mobile security into their enterprise DLP strategy. 

Two of the largest enterprise DLP vendors,Symantec and Websense, are introducing a DLP plug-in for tablets this year. The concept for tablets is pretty basic and shared for the most part across vendors. It works like an endpoint monitor that views and classifies information as it flows from a tablet to a web or cloud application. If the content is deemed appropriate it is allowed to reach its destination, and if the content is sensitive it will either notify DLP administrators, block the content or a combination of both.

Hot Topic: Smartphone Security

Cell phones have come a long way, from the Gordon Geckko 80's brick phone to today’s smartphones which are essentially pocket-sized computers.  Cell phones are no longer "just" a phone, they help us organize our lives, stay in touch via social networking, waste time. As more and more people adopt "smartphones" it is becoming an enticing frontier for hackers everywhere. Smartphone security is going beyond protecting against physical loss.  Many organizations that have employees who use smartphones to store company data often overlook simple security measures that are standard for any laptop or any other device with access to the internet.  

There are many companies that see this space for what it is, a relatively un-penetrated market with room for growth. Virtualization giant VMWare has partnered with smartphone manufacturer LG and they have begun building a smartphone with two virtualized machines, one for work and one for personal usage. These machines would be completely isolated from one another and allow an organization to support, distribute, and secure one type of smartphone while allowing employees to use the phone for personal use as well without risking exposing company data. Internet security firm Check Point Software found in a global survey that 64% of organizations are concerned that the growth in remote users will result in exposure to sensitive data and as a result are looking to encrypt and protect mobile devices. Smartphone manufacturers have also begun building proprietary encryption for their phones, or partnering with encryption companies. The gold standard for secure, encrypted smartphones is Blackberry which has been deemed secure for use in some of the highest levels of government.

Moral of the story is, protect yourself against these developing threats by installing anti-malware software on your smartphone and beware inherent threats when downloading mobile apps and clicking on mysterious links on social networking sites. Treat your cell phone like you treat your laptop, after all, the delineation between these devices is getting fuzzier and fuzzier.