Stories by Galen Gruman

BYOD: IT claims security fears but blocks Angry Birds instead

Did you know that Angry Birds and Facebook represent the biggest mobile app concerns within IT? That's what Zenprise's analysis of its Zencloud mobile device management (MDM) users found. Ironically, companies are much less likely to block Cloud storage apps such as Dropbox and Box.net or Cloud-based note-taking apps such as Evernote that some claim pose a significant threat of sensitive corporate data being lost.

SOPA on hold, PIPA may be weakened as Congress revisits the bills

As major technology websites such as Reddit and Wikipedia <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/reddit-go-dark-in-sopa-protest-184040">prepare to go dark</a> this Wednesday in protest over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives and the similar Protect Intellectual Privacy Act (PIPA) act in the Senate, there are signs that the protests from the technology industry are causing Congress to rethink the two bills, which is <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8960790/Hollywood-gains-upper-hand-in-SOPA-anti-piracy-debate.html">supported by the entertainment industry</a> and a variety of business groups whose goods are often counterfeited or pirated. The technology sector -- outside of online businesses -- has been conflicted, with the Business Software Alliance initially supporting SOPA but then <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/business-software-alliance-withdraws-support-stop-online-piracy-act-179793">withdrawing that support</a>.

Opinion: Symantec joins McAfee in selling useless mobile security

A fool and his money are soon parted, and Symantec's Norton division is hoping you are a fool. Today, it announced that its Norton Anti-Theft has left beta and is now a paid service offering. It can locate and remotely wipe or lock your Android smartphone or tablet or your Windows laptop, starting at US$40 per year for the first three devices. The problem is, you already have this capability &#8212; for free &#8212; on some Android devices.
McAfee introduced a similar service a few weeks ago for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry OS, also trying to get users to pay $20 each a year for something they likely already have.
Remote locking and remote wiping are built in to several operating systems and can be accessed in most cases through an online tool, or in other cases via Microsoft Exchange or other mail servers. Often, both options are available:

Opinion: HP transfers WebOS from the PC group - the game's afoot

Over the recent US Labour Day weekend, two of Hewlett-Packard's senior executives posted letters explaining that the development and marketing group for WebOS were being moved from the Personal Systems Group that makes PCs (and had made the now-defunct TouchPad tablet) to the Office for Strategy and Technology. This has caused a minor stir in the blogosphere, but it's just the move HP said it would make when it pulled the plug on all its WebOS devices three weeks ago, including the TouchPad tablet and the Pre, Pixi, and Veer smartphones, and said it may leave the PC business altogether, not just the mobile business.
When HP announced the death of its WebOS hardware line just five weeks after the debut of the TouchPad, it said it would retain the WebOS software and investigate its use elsewhere in the company. Well, the Office of Strategy and Technology is the group at HP that does just that.
If anything, the twin announcements by PC group chief Todd Bradley and strategy chief Shane Robison confirm that WebOS devices are dead at HP. Robison's statement is also very clear that his group is exploring ways HP might make money from WebOS. There's no commitment to the platform beyond that exploration.
Still, there's a strain of thought out there that somehow WebOS will rise phoenix-like from the ashes, despite the bullet to the head it took from HP's top leadership just three weeks ago. There's zero evidence to support this belief. In fact, the formal transfer of WebOS out of the PC group makes it much more unlikely that if the PC group is sold or spun out into its own company that it will be able to use WebOS in its mobile products. I believe that if the PC business decides to reenter the mobile business, as Bradley says it should (and he's hoping to run that spun-off business), it will use Android or Windows 8. Those are the only two real options for licensable tablet OSes &#8212; assuming Windows 8 actually delivers on its tablet aspirations, of course.
Trip Chowdhry, the canny analyst at Global Equities Securities, said this weekend that the &quot;harsh&quot; statements made by HP and its controversial CEO Léo Apotheker when HP killed the WebOS device business may have been designed &quot;to wake up the lazy executives&quot; at HP to the fact that real change is needed. Chowdhry also noted that since the shocking death of the WebOS device business and the decision to explore dumping the PC business, &quot;the sprit of survival is picking up at HP, which may be a unifying force for HP, which has traditionally been heavily influenced by internal politics.&quot;
If true, that's a shocking way to run a company, indicating a bureaucracy out of control and/or out of touch, a civil war among senior managers, or other Shakespearean dysfunction. No wonder my colleague Bill Snyder argues that the entire HP board should be fired, along with Apotheker, and why he likens the management at HP to the doomed Hamlet.
Whatever game is afoot at HP, WebOS is at best a pawn, an easy sacrifice to make by the top executives as they try to reshape beleaguered HP. It's not likely to survive this drama. Pawns rarely do.

Opinion: Beware - McAfee is selling iOS protection you already have

McAfee this week announced that the iOS edition of its WaveSecure mobile security software lets you remotely wipe or lock your iPhone or iPad from a web portal, as well as back up contacts, photos, and videos to its servers for safekeeping in case a device is lost, stolen, or damaged.
Which is all well and good, except Apple has offered the remote wipe and lock features for more than a year at no charge to all iOS users via its free Find My iPhone/iPad service, and its iTunes software has backed up all that data (and more) since the very first iPhone shipped in 2007. The forthcoming iCloud will also do that backup online &#8212; at no charge &#8212; without iTunes.
So what is the point of McAfee's US$20 offering to do the same thing Apple provides at no cost?
One of McAfee's answers was amusing: It said iOS users could retrieve the backed-up information from Android or other devices that support WaveSecure. Yeah, sure &#8212; iOS users will switch to Android or BlackBerry if their iPhone or iPad is lost, stolen, or damaged. Never mind that data is available through iTunes and soon iCloud.
Another answer was scary: &quot;It enables telcos and ISPs to keep the user loyal to the network instead of the device,&quot; said Lianne Caetano, McAfee's marketing director for consumer mobile products. In other words, your WaveSecure backup is tied to your carrier, so should you change carriers, you lose that backup. That's not the case at all with iTunes and iCloud.
Carriers and their technology partners need to get a clue: Smartphones are not interchangeable devices as past cellphones were. People buy iPhones, BlackBerrys, or Androids because they want an iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android &#8212; not because it comes from AT&amp;T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon Wireless. The carrier is a secondary concern, based on local coverage quality and your family or business plan. McAfee's carrier-centric motivation should be a red flag that its WaveSecure product isn't really aimed to help you, the user.
Like its rival Symantec, McAfee has been eager to convince mobile users that they need antimalware software on their smartphones and tablets, even though these devices &#8212; with the notable exception of Android &#8212; can live without it. That may change in the future, but for now, mobile devices are safer than PCs.
Apple has deliberately kept antimalware software away from iOS, even as it has actively encouraged mobile device management (MDM) products designed to secure the devices' access to corporate information. Apple has long looked askance at the PC market, where antivirus products that intertwine with the Windows OS have become a de facto extension of the OS, increasing the complexity and cost for users, and often causing performance and other problems. You can see why Apple would prefer not to open that door on iOS and why it has quietly been handling some of that itself in Mac OS X in the last year as malware attacks have begun to target the Mac.
McAfee's WaveSecure is also available for Android and BlackBerry devices, where it may be more justifiable:

Opinion: Whatever you do, don't buy a Chromebook

The first Chromebooks, from Samsung and Acer, are finally starting to ship, after a six-month tease by Google for its foundational Chrome OS. (Samsung's white 3G model is now shippng, and its three other models and Acer's sole models are available for preorder.) Please, save youself $350 to $500 and avoid these cloud-only laptops. Spend your money on something you'll both use and enjoy, like an iPad 2 or Galaxy Tab 10.1. I write these words from a Chromebook, where my 802.11n network feels like it's traversing molasses when using Google Docs and other internet service.
[Editor's note: Both Samsung and Acer declined to release the Chromebook in New Zealand as part of the global launch this month, but haven't ruled out launching it at a later date].
The sad truth is that the Chrome OS vision of all your computing occuring through the internet is an unsatisfying reality. I've tried to be open to the idea and given the beta Chrome OS the benefit of doubt in its early versions. But as the ship date approached, I began to get nervous that Google couldn't take Chrome OS beyond being an awkward sub-OS.
Now that we're at the point of Chromebook reality, I cannot in good conscience be generous. The Chromebook concept is a failure, as is the foundational &quot;Webtone&quot; idea that Google got from Sun Microsystems.
Simply put, I don't believe Chrome OS will ever get as good as a world of real apps that tap into the internet but don't depend on it. The web apps that run on Chromebooks' Chrome OS &#8212; and they're the only apps that can &#8212; are still primitive and not that capable. Google itself still doesn't have its Google Apps &#8212; the key apps it expects every Chrome OS user to rely on -- yet working in offline mode. That was promised for March, and still it's MIA. Remember, this is Google: a company that has no trouble shipping apps before they're ready.
The Wwb is not good enough to be your app library

Analysis: Security endpoint access concerns are misplaced

I've been talking to many IT executives in recent weeks at various conferences, and I'm finding a curious bifurcation among them when it comes to how they handle mobile devices such a iPhones, iPads, and Android smartphones and tablets. Some have the attitude &quot;people can bring whatever they want, so long as the devices support our security policies,&quot; while others take the &quot;I'm very leery of how these will compromise my organisation's security if I let them in&quot; position.
Yes, people in IT &#8211; many of them, in fact &#8211; still register the fear reaction to the new smartphone and tablets whose usage has exploded in recent years. I'm shocked at one level, but not at another.
I'm shocked because any organisation that truly has its security threatened because there are iPhones in the building have much bigger problems than any single device: They have fundamentally insecure IT operations that haven't acknowledged the idea of a physical perimeter is long gone in this era of wireless communications and high usage of outsourced services and contract employees. No device should have unchallenged access to sensitive information just because it is in the building, and the notion that security measures would let new devices right in is an absurd one.
I don't believe most of these companies have any basis for their fears. After all, they use virtual LANs, VPNs, permissions-based access, and the like already, and iOS and Android devices have no secret ways to blast through those. If a file server or database requires a password or other credential to gain access, that applies to mobile devices just as it does to PCs and remote computers.
The outdated basis for IT's fear of mobile devices

Opinion: Smartphone era means dumb LANs are redundant

I have heard plenty this past year from CIOs and other IT leaders about concerns over the endpoint management of mobile devices and of mobile apps &#8211; both areas for which enterprise-class tools have emerged to assuage those fears without straitjacketing users. In other words, they are tools to enable the post-PC era to take root.
What I had not considered is that the network itself is not architected to handle the post-PC environment rapidly developing at many businesses. LANs are generally designed under the assumption each user works in a designated space, so an Ethernet port is a proxy for a specific user. LANs were designed at a time when people used desktop PCs, not laptops, so the assumption was that the PC attached to that port was the same on each occasion.
Why the old network doesn't fit the post-PC workplace

Windows Phone 7 lacks on-device encryption

Many businesses will not be able to support Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system, which began shipping in the U.S. today. Like the competing Google Android, Windows Phone 7 does not support on-device encryption to protect data stored on it. Many businesses require such encryption to be able to access corporate data through EAS (Exchange ActiveSync) policies and automatically block connections from devices that don't support device-level encryption.

Five radical resolutions for the new year

The new year brings a fresh opportunity to turn the page on bad habits. For many, this means resolutions geared toward regaining control over areas of their lives that have too long been ignored. For IT, 2010 offers a different twist for overburdened organisations: to get out of the client-control business by embracing end-users and loosening some of the less essential IT controls.
In a world where most people use computers at home, where the internet is a basic medium for everyone, and where younger generations often understand the latest technology better than IT does, maybe it's time for IT to shed its feudal &quot;castle and moat&quot; mentality and enter the 21st century of federation and globalisation by giving end-users more freedom to choose the tools they use to do their jobs.
The trend is clear: As workforces become more distributed and reliant on contractors and employees who stay just a few years &#8211; and as companies start eliminating permanent workspaces for some employees &#8211; getting out of the client management business will become necessary for IT.
Yes, ceding control can be scary business. But if done right, loosening your grip on end-user tools can free IT to better control what actually matters: information and connectivity.
Here are five seemingly heretical resolutions that will make IT's job easier in the long run, while allowing employees to work in familiar, preferred environments that make them more productive.
IT resolution No. 1: Let employees use any PC they want. Give your end-users a budget so that if they want something really pricey they pay the difference. And if they choose something basic, let them use the leftover budget for other tech aids such as widescreen monitors or special input devices. Offer a standard option they can get preconfigured to IT's specifications. Certify IT-supported apps for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux &#8211; InfoWorld has heard that when employees get to choose their own computer, as many as a third choose Macs, so be ready for that choice. For example, you might certify Microsoft Office for Windows and Mac, IBM Lotus Symphony for Linux, Exchange for Windows, Apple Mail for Mac, and Evolution for Linux, and Firefox for all three platforms. Be able to support these apps in terms of their core features relevant to business use.
Those employees who opt for their own PCs get to support those PCs themselves for typical user issues such as updating the OS and apps, issues with nonstandard apps, and so on. Those who use your standard configuration get standard IT support.
Set the standards in the datacentre and in the network, such as access policies, security policies, and the like &#8211; so the client computer doesn't need so much &quot;touch&quot; to operate and maintain.
When employees leave, let them buy their equipment for whatever the value is of depreciation you've not yet claimed on your corporate taxes.
What's in it for IT: Trying to control all the endpoints is a losing game. Save the effort and refocus on what you can maintain: your datacentre and network. You'll end up with better systems and more resources to create better capabilities for your business.
IT resolution No. 2: Let employees use any smartphone they want. Just as with computers, set security standards and access standards that users' smartphones must meet and offer a standard-issue option that comes with traditional IT support. Users who get their own devices get to manage them directly. Give users a monthly allowance for their smartphone spend, eliminating the need to monitor all those contracts, overuse charges and quality-of-service issues.
If your security needs are high, install a product such as the Good for Enterprise server to support non-BlackBerry devices &#8211; if you run BlackBerry Enterprise Server to take advantage of the BlackBerry's security capabilities, it's only fair you offer the equivalent server to support other devices.
What's in it for IT: Once again, trying to control all the endpoints is a losing game. Plus, chances are, IT's current smartphone of choice isn't the one that will significantly empower employees.
IT resolution No. 3: Shift to web-style apps. Wherever possible, deploy your specialty functionality through web-based apps, whether through the intranet or over the (VPN-secured) internet. Such apps aren't tied to specific device platforms, so you don't have to worry about vendors' or internal developers' platform choices. They also don't need local installation, so they are easier to maintain and modify.
Avoid those apps, and development platforms that produce apps, that use proprietary, platform-specific technologies, such as ActiveX; the whole idea is that you are freeing both you and your users from unnecessary dependencies. (Vendors will follow suit if you insist on not accepting their lock-in strategies.)
Some of these may be external cloud-provisioned apps &#8211; if that sourcing option makes sense for the desired functionality.
What's in it for IT: As you move from nondependent applications, you reduce the complexity of managing them and coordinating their deployments. Think of all the effort spent to qualify apps for your current OSes and to do it all over again when you get a new PC or OS. With this resolution, that largely goes away.
IT resolution No. 4: Map out a strategy for the use of client virtualisation. Anyone who has a Mac and runs Windows applications on it through Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion knows what the future holds: Apps and user environments can exist in separate logical containers, yet work as part of a unified experience.
Being able to run &quot;foreign&quot; apps (the Mac users' motivation) is just the beginning: The same principles apply to separating corporate apps from personal apps, corporate data from personal data, encrypted data from unencrypted data, persistent data from temporary data and so on. Comprising both application virtualisation and desktop virtualisation, this approach pushes the control and management to the datacentre, and removes all those headaches and complications on the client side &#8211; for both IT and the user.
Citrix Systems, EMC VMware, Microsoft, and Wyse Technology are all readying interesting products in this area, so start checking them out.
What's in it for IT: More control over what really counts, and less worry about client systems.
IT resolution No. 5: Deploy collaboration platforms. As people work in more varied locations &#8211; at an office, at home, on the road, at a client site &#8211; the resources they share and trade need to be easily accessible. Email goes a long way to letting work and information flow from one person to another, but it's not ideal for many types of collaboration.
I use the term &quot;collaboration&quot; loosely: whatever facilitates groups to work on common projects, from basic file sharing to fancy videoconferencing systems.
Work files should be accessible through internet-accessible servers as shared drives. A small company might use the Pogoplug appliance to accomplish that, along with Google Docs. Larger companies might use VPN-secured network servers, Microsoft SharePoint, and any of the many cloud-based collaboration tools. It doesn't matter &#8211; the point is to make in-progress and archived work products accessible easily. (Remember: The security needs to happen primarily at the data source.)
Likewise, on-demand audioconferencing and videoconferencing, recorded group message-based chats, wikis, shared calendars, and project status boards should all be put in place and be internet-accessible.
What's in it for IT: Not only will IT help empower the emerging style of workforce, but as IT has to support a distributed workforce and perhaps get more distributed itself, such systems will let IT succeed in that new context as well.

The other iPhone lie: VPN policy support

It turns out that Apple's iPhone 3.1 OS fix of a serious security issue -- <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/apple-betrays-iphones-business-hopes-723">falsely reporting to Exchange servers</a> that pre-3G S iPhones and iPod Touches had on-device encryption -- wasn't the first such policy falsehood that Apple has quietly fixed in an OS upgrade. It fixed a similar lie in its June iPhone OS 3.0 update. Before that update, the iPhone falsely reported its adherence to VPN policies, specifically those that confirm the device is not saving the VPN password (so users are forced to enter it manually). Until the iPhone 3.0 OS update, users could save VPN passwords on their Apple devices, yet the iPhone OS would report to the VPN server that the passwords were not being saved.

Opinion: Apple betrays the iPhone's business hopes

Fixing a major but unacknowledged bug in the operating system, last week's iPhone OS 3.1 update has rendered most iPhones and all iPod Touches incompatible with Exchange 2007 servers that require on-device data be encrypted, a standard safeguard used by businesses.

The seven best features in Snow Leopard

When a new OS upgrade costs US$29, you can be forgiven for thinking of it as a service pack. Such may appear to be the case with Mac OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, which Apple has positioned as an under-the-hood upgrade whose new capabilities won't be so obvious to users, and thus not worth the usual $129.

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