Mobilisafe Acquisition Highlights the Growing Need for Mobile Security
Mobilisafe Acquisition Highlights the Growing Need for Mobile Security by UCStrategies Staff
The growth and dispersion of the cybersecurity market allows partners to develop expertise and services, enabling them to become specialists in the field. The acquisition of Seattle-based Mobilisafe, provider of mobile risk management (MRM), will allow Boston, Mass.-based Rapid7 to hone those specialist skills.
On first appearances, it seems as though both Rapid7 and Mobilisafe work well together. The latter's MRM solution provides similar risk-management services as Rapid7, but extends it to a mobile platform. As such, Rapid7 is able to break new ground in mobile space; this will enable partners to broaden their roles and specialist skills to tap into mobile security markets which are accelerating through BYOD trends.
CEO of Rapid7, Mike Tuchen, says, “The trend of BYOD highlights one of the greatest challenges organizations face in security, which is identifying all the devices being used to access corporate data, and understanding the associated threats so they can be mitigated. ...With the acquisition of Mobilisafe, Rapid7 addresses this challenge, providing visibility of mobile devices and enabling organizations to manage their risk and take mitigating action. This builds on our existing expertise in managing IT risk across on-premise, cloud and virtual assets.”
Mobilisafe allows partners to access and make use of more mobile management and security options. In particular, partners are able to find out which devices are being acquired by the organization and also have the opportunity to monitor and identify weaknesses and risks relating to each device.
Additionally, partners can also define and determine policies that proclaim mobile risk. For instance, devices with a low TrustScore will be blocked, and those with the most recent firmware or wiping data from lost and stolen devices can be updated automatically.
Mobile malware has spiked significantly in the last few years – 2,180 percent between the first quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of 2012 – according to a report by ABI Research. Rapid7, which secured a $50 million windfall, has invested in the growing need for mobile security through the acquisition of Mobilisafe.
The ABI Research report suggests that by the end of 2012, the mobile security market will reach $398 million. Rapid7's resultant investment is part of the company's strategized growth and expansion plans.
The rise of MRM firms such as Mobilisafe, Fixmo and others have, consequently, become desirable acquisition targets, making the market more comprehensive and specialized. Mobile security is most commonly provided as an add-on, as opposed to a complex security or mobile device management solution.
As the cybersecurity market finds its way, competition will drive mobile security to disperse into smaller, more profitable niches. As a result, partners will be able to engage more with mobility practices and specialized security services as they develop into experts. (CY) Link