Good Technology MDM Review: Tight Grip On Data

Good's on its way to data-centric security.

Michael A. Davis, CTO of CounterTack

November 20, 2012

2 Min Read
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Good Technology's sandbox approach is similar to the approach of most MDM providers in that it requires servers that sit in front of a company's email infrastructure and interact with mobile devices directly. But the agent Good installs on mobile devices does much more than enforce policies. It includes email, contacts, a calendar and a Web browser. Some complain that Good makes people learn a new email interface, but it's not a steep learning curve.

In key IT scenarios -- enrolling many devices, updating devices frequently and giving device users access to company resources -- Good's software worked well in our test. With enrollment, admins can add a device manually or provide a file with all user names and devices for a mass import, or the software lets users do it through a portal. A weakness is that Good doesn't have enough built-in, automated reports on things like out-of-compliance devices.

For security, Good's Dynamics architecture and APIs keep documents such as PDFs inside its container, instead of their opening on a device. Good needs more apps in this architecture, but its list is growing. It also puts a browser in its mobile agent so that admins can limit the URLs users can visit.

As mobile devices proliferate, managing them will become less important; the focus will shift to managing company data on those devices. With steps like Dynamics and browser controls, Good is on its way to data-centric security.

For a longer review, see our MDM Report

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About the Author

Michael A. Davis

CTO of CounterTack

Michael A. Davis has been privileged to help shape and educate the globalcommunity on the evolution of IT security. His portfolio of clients includes international corporations such as AT&T, Sears, and Exelon as well as the U.S. Department of Defense. Davis's early embrace of entrepreneurship earned him a spot on BusinessWeek's "Top 25 Under 25"
list, recognizing his launch of IT security consulting firm Savid Technologies, one of the fastest-growing companies of its decade. He has a passion for educating others and, as a contributing author for the *Hacking Exposed* books, has become a keynote speaker at dozens of conferences and symposiums worldwide.

Davis serves as CTO of CounterTack, provider of an endpoint security platform delivering real-time cyberthreat detection and forensics. He joined the company because he recognized that the battle is moving to the endpoint and that conventional IT security technologies can't protect enterprises. Rather, he saw a need to deliver to the community continuous attack monitoring backed by automated threat analysis.

Davis brings a solid background in IT threat assessment and protection to his latest posting, having been Senior Manager Global Threats for McAfee prior to launching Savid, which was acquired by External IT. Aside from his work advancing cybersecurity, Davis writes for industry publications including InformationWeek and Dark Reading. Additionally, he has been a partner in a number of diverse entrepreneurial startups; held a leadership position at 3Com; managed two Internet service providers; and recently served as President/CEO of the InClaro Group, a firm providing information security advisory and consulting services based on a unique risk assessment methodology.

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