Mobile device management and security firm Zenprise this week unveiled MobileManager 6.0, a new application designed to help enterprise IT administrators lock down critical data throughout their mobile environments.

Company officials said the new multiple-tier protection features work for all Android, Apple iOS and Windows Mobile smartphones and tablet PCs, giving them a more holistic view of what data workers are accessing with their various mobile devices.

Whether they like it or not, IT security administrators at companies of all sizes are being forced to accommodate and secure a variety of mobile devices without limiting access to applications and services, whether they are hosted in the cloud or behind their corporate firewalls.

This reality, coupled with a dramatic surge in malware attacks specifically targeting mobile devices and applications, has enterprise clients clamoring for more comprehensive security and mobile management software suites.

"The mobile world is quickly changing the way we need to think about security," Ahmed Datoo, Zenprise's chief marketing officer, said in a statement. "Today’s enterprises must have a wider, more flexible and impermeable shield to safeguard data that’s travelling back and forth between the corporate network and users’ devices in the field."

Whether it's unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots or Trojan-riddled websites disguised as customer or partner sites, there's plenty of danger out there for distributed workers using mobile devices that connect to the business-critical applications and networks that hackers desire most.

MobileManager 6.0 includes a feature called Dynamic Defense that provides "context aware" device security that automatically detects potential threats and makes security adjustments on the fly. It can detect when a credit scanner is no longer in a retail store and immediately shut down the scanner and erase all the customer data remotely, helping to at least slow down if not eliminate any chance of identity theft.

Another feature called Secure Connect tightens the periphery with secured, encrypted access to specific business applications – think CRM or inventory apps – for mobile users determined by an organization's internal security policies, essentially providing access to only the apps and data that individual iPhone-carrying employees need rather than entire network.

Finally, Mobile Manager 6.0's Mobile Application Gateway feature is a server-based app that uses internal security certificates and directors to determine whether or not any mobile user gets access to specific apps and files. It also provides a digital trail that logs all mobile application traffic among enterprise users.

Security software vendors say providing encryption and policy management tools at the application level will become increasingly important as more and more companies turn to cloud-based applications and services for day-to-day operations.

"We are starting to see customers rely more on mobile devices for revenue generating activities, and they are becoming much more vigilant about securing and managing enterprise mobility -- from the connectivity of people and devices, to the mobile applications that power their business," Zenprise CEO Jayaram Bhat said in a statement. "A holistic and dynamic approach to security is necessary if organizations want to leverage mobility as a valid revenue-generating source and long term strategic advantage."

MobileManager 6.0 will be released by the end of December, company officials said.

Larry Barrett is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.

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