Red Bend to secure Samsung smartphones

Red Bend’s TRUE for BYOD turns a single mobile device into two virtual phones running on the same hardware.

Mobile software management company Red Bend Software Ltd. has teamed with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (KSX: 5390; LSE: SMSN) to improve security of Samsung's Galaxy S III smartphones. Starting in the second quarter, Red Bend and Samsung will conduct enterprise trials of a dual-persona version of the smartphone for use in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs. BYOD is a strategy that allows employees to use their personal mobile devices for work.

Under the partnership, enterprises interested in supporting BYOD will be able to trial a version of the Samsung Galaxy S III that runs two separate Android operating systems - one for personal use and the other for business use. CIOs who choose Red Bend’s TRUE Solution for BYOD will trust employees’ personal Samsung smartphones have higher security, and the management and performance required for corporate access, while employees will keep work life separate from personal life, and ensure personal content and data remains private from employers.

Red Bend’s TRUE for BYOD turns a single mobile device into two virtual phones running on the same hardware, keeping employees' work separate from their personal life, by permitting different entities to manage each virtual phone securely over the air. Red Bend’s Type-1 mobile hypervisor runs directly on top of the hardware, delivering fast performance of each virtualized operating system. Because each operating system is completely isolated from the other, a security compromise of the personal OS does not affect the enterprise OS.

"Red Bend offers a smartphone solution for BYOD to meet these needs of employees, as well as those of IT managers,” said Samsung Electronics VP Jae Shin.

Red Bend CEO Yoram Salinger said, "Collaborating with Samsung to offer a virtualized smartphone featuring dual personas is a major milestone. There is great anticipation in the market for a BYOD smartphone based on Type-1 hypervisors. This will drastically improve how IT departments support BYOD and how consumers seamlessly move between their work and personal lives using one device. Together, Red Bend and Samsung are making the next generation of consumer mobile devices secure for the enterprise."

In October 2012, media reports claimed that IBM Corporation (NYSE: IBM) was in talks to acquire Red Bend for $200 million, but no deal has emerged so far. Red Bend is not the only company developing BYOD solutions. At the Barcelona World Mobile Conference, AirWatch Inc. announced a $200 million investment from US fund Insight Ventures. The huge investment is apparently also a strategic acquisition, and if Red Bend's negotiations with IBM do not make progress, Red Bend may have other options.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 26, 2013

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013

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