AT&T and IBM team up for Mobile Cloud Security

AT&T and IBM can deliver a scalable mobile cloud solution to help protect corporate data and apps. IBM and AT&T’s new approach enables a workforce to be productive without compromising security and the mobile user experience.

“More employees are using mobile devices to be more productive. At the same time, data and apps are moving to the cloud. The changes are exciting, but security needs to be top-of-mind,” said Steve McGaw, chief marketing officer, AT&T Business Solutions. “Trusted collaborators like IBM are helping us better address changing business models. Together we’re giving options to deliver highly secure mobile access to cloud apps and data.”

The increasing use and value of mobile data has created a challenge for CIOs looking to connect customers, partners and employees across devices. The complexity of securing corporate data in this environment is even tougher. Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting mobile apps, Internet connections and corporate networks. The AT&T Cybersecurity Insights report states that our experts have seen a 62% increase in DDoS attacks over past 2 years.

IBM research found that nearly half of all companies allocate no budget to securing the apps they develop. As threats evolve and grow, how businesses deliver a secure user experience and mobile access to apps must evolve as well.

The AT&T and IBM mobile cloud security solution will help customers secure the device, connectivity and data. It gives companies simple tools they can use to properly enable their growing mobile workforce. The reference architecture includes:

IBM MobileFirst Protect: helps organizations manage and control mobile devices, apps and documents.

AT&T NetBond: provides a high secure, scalable network connection to IBM’s Cloud infrastructure services, SoftLayer.

IBM Cloud: the SoftLayer infrastructure secures public and private clouds for applications and data storage.

AT&T Work Platform: enables separate billing of business and personal charges for voice, messaging and data use on an employee’s** personal handset.

“Balancing employees’ need for convenience with security has become a challenge for CISOs and CIOs across the world,” said Caleb Barlow, vice president, IBM Security. “To help protect organizations, employees and data, IBM Security and AT&T are delivering a tested and easy to deploy set of complimentary tools. We’re giving enterprise mobile device users stable, private access to data and apps in the cloud.Together we’re providing mobile users with simple, consistent and controlled cloud access. As a result, employees become more productive and corporations reduce complexity and stay focused on business,” he added.