webOS boosts Activesync enterprise features for TouchPad & Pre3 with "Enable Encryption" 23
As HP intensifies its webOS push into the enterprise market, it faces an increased focus on security features and management. One area where webOS has lagged somewhat behind competitors is in its support for various security features within Microsoft Exchange Activesync. As of webOS 1.1, basic security features like Remote Wipe have been supported, but many organizations also require device encryption before allowing smartphones and tablets to be connected to their networks.
With the release of webOS 3.x on the TouchPad, there have been various rumors that additional features such as device encryption were added, but neither HP's published specifications or its official webOS security white paper (which dates back to January 2010) provide any confirmation. In response to an e-mailed query, however, Chuq Von Rospach, the Developer Community Manager for the webOS Global Business Unit, provided the following new information:
"[T]he TouchPad and Pre3 also support the Enable Encryption policy. More specifically, the devices are always encrypted."
It is not yet clear whether upcoming webOS updates for the currently available smartphones (the Pre 2 and Veer) will also add this functionality, but we would hope they will. We also encourage HP to make this newly added security feature, and in fact all of webOS' enterprise benefits, better known and understood to the enterprise market.
Sources: HP White Paper; Chuq Von Rospach
23 Comments
This is me clapping...Where is this so called pre 3? yeah
That due has some deals :-)
I would hope that proper email formatting to match Outlook will soon follow. Until then, I'm looking to the homebrew community to help out: http://forums.precentral.net/webos-patches/290347-patch-request-bounty-m...
So it has the Pixi in the diagram...
And it says "Palm webOS phones".
Yes--as I said in the article, the whitepaper (from which the image comes) dates from January 2010, well before the HP acquisition. {Jonathan}
I just hope they release a new phone with the same design as the Pixi, but with a hardware as good as the Pre 3, that'd be a hit in businesses.
"Ze whole purpose iz lost if you keep it a secret, why didn't you tell the world! "
-Dr. Strangelove
Izn't dat "Siegfried" un Get Smart?
No, it's Dr. Strangelove speaking to the Soviet defense minister regarding their "Doomsday Device".
In webOS 3.x on the TouchPad, the mojodb and filecache partitions are encrypted now. I suspect this is what they mean by "the devices are always encrypted".
-- Rod
So what does that leave unencrypted? I assume the areas to be most concerned about encryption-wise are email (EAS) cache, and any files viewed from those emails. Does that fall under mojodb and file cache partitions?
I'd really like whole device encryption.
lol
I hope they sort out the cluttering asap. They are pulling their platform apart in so many ways, it's already hard to follow the "which device fails what" topic. I got a pre 2, but imagine I bought a veer and a TP, and now only the TP would allow encryption. Meh!
And where is the VPN setup guide? I couldn't manage yet to connect my pre 2 to my astaro firewall. And why is there only a citrix client, not remote desktop which is built-in into all win-servers? I thought hp would be the enterprise-heros.
" (...)As HP intensifies its webOS push into the enterprise market,(...) "
...Please.... Stop using these "figures of speech", which sound as HP actually IS doing anything in that space... They do not push webOS anywhere, but off the cliff, least to enterprise market.
There's no market in Enterprise for TouchPads & Veers. There's huge market for phones like Pre 3, IF paired with appropriate PIM software, solid build quality, possible to plug into existing infrastructure & promoted right.
So, stop kidding yourself. White paper security documents from jan 2010, outdated, and accompanied by just another PR **** from management about "whole device encryption" (my gosh...), that demonstrates their REAL commitment and so-called "push"
Actually, there is probably a substantial enterprise market for tablets.
I've been using a Touchpad for a week and look forward to using it in the office.
...examples of use cases, please? Other than doctor's notepad, and 1:1 customer-facing sales representative, that could indeed benefit from them, I am struggling to see any really fit examples - but would like to be proven wrong (and see HP boasting them in their enterprise-targeted commercials)
This is nice, but what I really need is the ability to send email in the Plain Text format instead of HTML only. For some reason I can only send messages to others within my company from my Touchpad, but if I send to anyone outside the body gets sent empty.
You should contact tech support about that because I have been using my tPad extensively inside and outside of my company since July 2nd, sending/receiving work-related email with no problems of this kind.
This is a step in the right direction for webOS, no matter how you spin it. I'm going to get my TouchPad activated for Enterprise use next week now. I can't wait to have my Exchange calendar and emailed synced to my favorite mobile device!
This is all well and good, but where is the updated Citrix Receiver? Right now, the one in the App catalog will not connect with SSL networks. Apparently they're "working on it."
If HP is serious about getting enterprise customers to embrace webOS devices (and I hope they are), here's a simple checklist of features that will get them in the door:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/gg187968.aspx
I work for a Fortune 50 company and was directly involved in a pilot project to assess BlackBerry alternatives using Microsoft ActiveSync. Ultimately, *no* alternative offered the same level of control and email/calendar functionality, but we went ahead with support for iPhone and iPad anyway, due to overwhelming demand and no better option. It's been a major PITA to work around Apple's grudging support of enterprise requirements, and I personally would *LOVE* to see HP step up and have webOS qualified for the (as yet) *very* short list of Exchange ActiveSync Logo Program members.
--John