Blancco Secures Smartphones for Reuse or Disposal with Data Erasure Software for Mobile Devices

JOENSUU, Finland, June 28, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- With recent surveys showing that the vast majority of smartphones are used for both business and personal tasks,[1,2] Blancco, the global leader in data erasure and end-of-lifecycle solutions, has today introduced Blancco Mobile Edition. The software is designed to eliminate the risk of inadvertent data leaks by erasing retired smartphones that may contain both sensitive business and personal information. Capable of erasing up to 150 such devices per day, Blancco Mobile Edition helps IT security managers set and enforce end-of-service policy related to smartphones, as more businesses and individuals take advantage of their productivity, flexibility, and data accessibility benefits.

Smartphone sales are up almost 57% this year over 2009,[3] and sales are predicted to surpass worldwide PC sales by the end of 2011.[4] With increasingly faster mobile networks, users of both personal and business smartphones often have easy access to company applications that contain sensitive information. While organizations frequently provide access to company messaging and folder systems via smartphones, they overlook the danger of data breach when the device is retired.

"In addition to information on SIM cards, smartphones hold gigabytes of data in internal and external memory, so organizations must treat their disposal or reassignment as they would a laptop," said Ari Korpelainen, Vice President of Product for Blancco. "Blancco Mobile Edition allows businesses to quickly and completely wipe all data from these devices and implement an end-of-service policy for safe reuse or secure permanent disposal of smartphones that have accessed corporate data."

Developed for erasure of smartphones running major platforms like Symbian, RIM for Blackberry, and Microsoft, Blancco Mobile Edition consists of a Windows PC application and platform-specific smartphone clients. Designed for professional use, the erasure software allows companies to connect multiple smartphones to a PC for data erasure. It securely overwrites all data, and provides detailed erasure reports for audit and regulatory purposes. Blancco will continue expanding the range of platforms erasable with Mobile Edition and will support erasure of Android-based platforms later this year.

About Blancco

Blancco is the proven data erasure solution for millions of users around the globe. As the global leader in data erasure and end-of-lifecycle solutions, Blancco offers the most certified data erasure solutions within the industry. The company serves users across a wide range of industries, including banking, finance, government and defense, as well as IT Asset Disposal professionals. Blancco operates from an extensive network of international offices and partners across Europe, North America, Asia, and Australasia. More information is available at http://www.blancco.com.

    1. Sybase study conducted by Zogby International, March 2010
    http://www.sybase.com/files/Feature_Articles/Mobile_Device_Survey2010.pdf

    2. Crowd Science, March 2010
       http://storage.pardot.com/1742/19507/Android_Study.pdf

    3. In-Stat, March 2009
       http://www.instat.com/press.asp?ID=2465&sku=IN0804050WH

    4. RBC as reported in PC World, September 2009
       http://www.pcworld.com/article/171380/


    Media Contact:

    Monica Shaw
    +1-770-367-9534
    [email protected]

SOURCE Blancco Ltd