In today’s Bring Your Own Device phenomenon that saw a shift in the preferred mobile platform for enterprise, BlackBerry fell from once being the obvious choice to being the least favorite option. Despite this, BlackBerry maintained security at its core and even though media has discarded the PlayBook as a non-factor in the tablet industry a recent study by Context Information Security shows that the PlayBook IS good for something.
A technology audit by CIS identified security failings in three of the most popular tablets, raising concerns about the security implications of BYOD. The study looked at Apple’s iPad, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook concluding that the Samsung device is the least enterprise-ready of the trio. The iPad and PlayBook performed better, but, they still have flaws like their desktop softwares’ failure to encrypt backups by default.
All three tablets support Exchange ActiveSync, meaning that their core security configurations can be actively managed from a central Exchange server. However, differences in their security controls relatively affect their suitability for enterprise use. These security controls include data protection, software integrity and updates, access control, security configuration profiles and connectivity, along with backup and synchronisation.
Of the three, the PlayBook was the only device that could provide good separation between personal and work data with its BlackBerry Balance feature, something that should be a key feature in supporting the growing trend of BYOD.
The BlackBerry PlayBook, by contrast, provides “excellent logical and data separation between work and personal modes” thanks to its Balance architecture – which allows secure wipes of biz data from the device by the employer while leaving personal information intact – combined with its built-in Bridge content-porting application.
Context Information Security is an independent information security consultancy. Read the white paper on their website.
Source The Register