Mobile Active Defense Launches GeoLocation-Based Firewall and Content Filtering for iPhones and Smartphones

ATLANTA, Jan. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile Active Defense (M.A.D. Partners, LLC) announces the release of its patent-pending mobile firewall and contents filtering mechanisms that enforce controls based upon the physical location of the mobile device. The award-winning Mobile Enterprise Compliance and Security Server (MECS) provides stringent and comprehensive access, security and compliance enforcement mechanisms to echo fixed enterprise policies.

With the addition of GeoLocation controls, Mobile Active Defense (M.A.D.) offers organizations around the world a new range of previously unavailable flexibility over the content filtering and access rights of iPhones, iPads, smartphones and tablet devices.

Government and private organizations face an increasing risk to their smartphones and tablet devices as employees travel around the globe. Often the cultural requirements of certain countries or regions differ radically. For example, Saudi Arabia and many other countries deem any adult content to be extremely offensive. With MECS' GeoLocation, the enforcement policies automatically change when arriving in Saudi Arabia, or any other location that has similar cultural sensitivities.

Rob Smith, co-founder and CTO of M.A.D., remembers a meeting in which a U.S. government agency had a specific request. "They essentially asked us to have a virtually unlimited number of firewalls for each iPhone and iPad, so they could enforce different security policies depending upon the physical location of the user's device."

Smith subsequently met with Middle East representatives who had similar requests for Regional Location Controls. "I showed them Playboy.com on my iPad with no Geo-enforced controls. Then I turned GEO controls on and Playboy and other sites returned a blank page. Needless to say, this is exactly what they were looking for."

A company's policies might dictate another set of policies for France or China or any other region of the world. This innovative addition resulted due to an initial need to respond to various political and cultural sensitivity issues organizations are facing around the world.

SRA International's Adam Meyers, Director, Cyber Security Intelligence, says about M.A.D.'s GeoLocation capabilities, "GeoLocation-based rules allow you to consider location when creating security policy. I'm not aware of any other product that considers location and mobile security at the same time, which seems pretty intuitive. Smartphones are mobile; threats change in different locations."

The applications for M.A.D.'s GeoLocation enforcement seem endless. Healthcare companies require different rules if doctors are at a medical facility or when traveling. Some companies need to restrict access to corporate assets when their employees are traveling to places where industrial espionage is a concern.

Winn Schwartau, Chairman of the Board of M.A.D., said, "I am astounded daily with how creative our customers can be. We work with them to apply a range of mobile security solutions for their needs that have to adapt to their specific situations. It's incredibly exciting to be forging such new territories and applying the vast flexibility M.A.D. offers to new levels of security and compliance."

MECS' GeoLocation contains 3 different components - the real-time map, geo-location rule base option and reporting.

The GEO functions of M.A.D.'s MECS are also a major cost-saver to organizations. When employees travel, data communications costs can skyrocket. By restricting access to certain capabilities based upon location, MECS pays for itself in just one overseas trip.

About M.A.D.:

M.A.D. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA with offices in San Jose, CA and London, England. With over 100 years of combined experience in security hardware, software product design and development M.A.D.'s mission is to create innovative, high-quality and easy-to-use security applications for smartphones and tablet devices. M.A.D. has recently been selected by SC Magazine as a finalist in the 2011 Excellence Award Category "Rookie Security Company of the Year," awarded the Frost & Sullivan 2011 New Product Innovation of the Year Award, featured in a report by global Analyst Group Ovum in December 2010 and included in the Gartner Inc. report on the MDM Landscape of Mobile Security Vendors. M.A.D. is actively participating in the upcoming Mobile Security Symposium on February 14th in San Francisco, CA (along with SRA International, AT&T, Koolspan and Symantec). http://www.MobileActiveDefense.com  

For more information, contact Jackie Baumann, [email protected] or 941-266-3819.

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SOURCE M.A.D. Partners, LLC