Mobile content security still a challenge

Today, companies are finding new ways to do business on mobile devices. They have moved beyond displaying simplified menus and content on a smartphone or tablet and shifted toward using mobile environments to create context-specific, enhanced user experiences.

So, for example, a political fundraising campaign can easily take to the streets, where canvassers who once toted around a clipboard and pen to write down donor information now carry tablets loaded with mobile applications. These apps may contain a wealth of information about donors, such as donation history, address, other members of the household and even their attitudes about referendum questions. Having these apps at the ready creates a more seamless, complete and fulfilling experience for donors, said Geoff Bock, principal at Bock & Co. and a contributor to SearchContentManagement, in this podcast.

At the same time, creating a richer, fuller experience poses concerns about data security. The ability to load donation information on a tablet untethers a fundraiser and gives him new power to raise money for a candidate. But at the same time, if the tablet is lost or stolen, that donation history could create a data breach.

Bock said that the emergence of mobility has undone traditional methods of securing content, and companies have yet to adjust and find ways to secure content in transit and at rest.

"The whole file cabinet parable," Bock said, "where we secured content in a repository … may have been a good way to secure content in a client/server era, but with mobility and the Web, that era is long gone."

For more, check out this podcast on mobile content security; and check out part one of the podcast on new business operations that are enabled by mobile content.