2017 Mobility 100: 30 Coolest Mobile Security And Device Management Vendors

Mobile Security Innovators

The rise of the mobile workforce creates major opportunities for businesses and employees, but lots of challenges, too. And at the top of that list of challenges is security, particularly when it comes to ensuring that sensitive corporate information doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Vendors large and small have emerged to provide security offerings that go beyond those offered by the device makers themselves -- offerings that are typically integrated with mobile device management tools.

To give a sense of the key players in mobile security and device management right now, we've rounded up 30 of the coolest vendors to know about.

Appthority

Paul Stich, CEO

Headquarters: San Francisco

Appthority has a comprehensive offering that works proactively to secure enterprise data and employee privacy against mobile threats. The firm recently debuted an update to its Mobile Threat Protection offering that improves security visibility across apps and devices, and simplifies the addition of its mobile security offerings for users of VMware AirWatch, MobileIron and Citrix.

Arxan Technologies

Joe Sander, CEO

Headquarters: San Francisco

Arxan Technologies is a developer of offerings for preventing cyberattacks against mobile apps, with technologies that detect attempted attacks at run-time and then halt the attacks (or repair the damage). The company recently expanded its offerings through the acquisition of Apperian, a mobile application management vendor.

BlackBerry

John Chen, CEO

Headquarters: Waterloo, Ontario

BlackBerry has moved away from the hardware business and is now focused on security offerings for enterprise mobility, including mobile device management, mobile application management and secure mobile communications. The company also provides its customized, highly secured version of Android 7.1 to the new KeyOne phone made by partner TCL.

Centrify

Tom Kemp, CEO

Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.

Centrify provides enterprise mobility management offerings with a focus on providing the security for BYOD programs within organizations. The company enables BYOD with unified mobility and identity management, which secures access to all types of apps and devices.

Check Point Software Technologies

Gil Shwed, CEO

Headquarters: San Carlos, Calif. and Tel Aviv, Israel

Check Point provides software for protecting enterprise data in mobile environments and providing secure access to company documents to mobile workers. Offerings include Mobile Threat Prevention for protecting iOS and Android devices from advanced threats, and Capsule, which enables a secure business environment for using mobile devices.

Citrix Systems

Kirill Tatarinov, CEO

Headquarters: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Citrix provides the XenMobile enterprise mobility management offering, which comprises mobile device management, mobile application management, mobile content management and secure network gateway. In addition, XenMobile includes enterprise-grade mobile productivity apps.

Coronet

Guy Moskowitz, CEO

Headquarters: Israel

Coronet focuses on defending against threats to an organization's wireless network, enabling enterprises to have their employees safely use devices over any Wi-Fi or cellular connection. The offering includes intelligence about wireless threats and protection of corporate data.

Cyber adAPT

Kirsten Bay, CEO

Headquarters: Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Cyber adAPT provides secure device management that aims to not only eliminate threat risks, but also allow for ease of access to information. The company's offering includes hardened IPSec VPN, control over access to cloud storage services and tracking of user activity.

ForeScout

Michael DeCesare, CEO

Headquarters: San Jose, Calif.

ForeScout offers management of mobility and BYOD initiatives with CounterACT, an offering that provides secure network access by automatically detecting, assessing and controlling mobile devices. CounterACT automates device on-boarding, while enforcing device security and policy-based network access control.

ForgeRock

Mike Ellis, CEO

Headquarters: San Francisco

ForgeRock is a provider of mobile authentication that aims to be simple to deploy and use, by seamlessly integrating the authentication into the login process. Components of the offering include Push Authentication (for password-free logins) and one-time passwords.

IBM

Ginni Rometty, CEO

Headquarters: Armonk, N.Y.

IBM offers products for mobile security including MaaS360 (for mobile device management), Security Access Manager (for enforcement of access policies), AppScan (for detecting vulnerabilities in mobile apps) and Trusteer mobile (for secure access to banking websites).

Kaspersky Lab

Eugene Kaspersky, CEO

Headquarters: Russia

Kaspersky's mobile security portfolio includes technologies to defeat mobile device malware and manage mobile applications, as well as mobile device management. The company also provides centralized management of endpoint security offerings by using the same console for managing mobile devices and other endpoint platforms.

Lookout

Jim Dolce, CEO

Headquarters: San Francisco

Lookout's Mobile Endpoint Security offering provides enterprises with protection from mobile threats, whether they be threats to apps, networks or devices (iOS or Android). Meanwhile, Lookout App Security is an offering for enterprises that are looking to analyze apps for malware and other security risks.

McAfee

Christopher Young, CEO

Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.

Through its Endpoint Protection suite, McAfee offers defense against cyber threats -- including zero-day exploits and other types of hacker attacks -- that extends to mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads and Android smartphones.

MobileIron

Barry Mainz, CEO

Headquarters: Mountain View, Calif.

MobileIron specializes in management and security for smartphones and tablets, with its Enterprise Mobility Management platform. Traditionally focused on Android and iOS devices, the company is now aiming to serve Windows 10 devices such as laptops as well, through a partnership with Lenovo.

Okta

Todd McKinnon, CEO

Headquarters: San Francisco

Okta has offerings for enterprise mobile security and device management such as single sign-on for native and web apps, secure access to cloud apps and integration between user identity and devices. The company also provides a central console for organizations to manage mobile devices and apps.

Palo Alto Networks

Mark McLaughlin, CEO

Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.

Palo Alto Networks' mobile security service, GlobalProtect, includes benefits such as visibility and control of application traffic when users are working remotely. The service provides enforcement of security policies by automatically connecting mobile users to a firewall/internet gateway.

Proofpoint

Gary Steele, CEO

Headquarters: Sunnyvale, Calif.

Proofpoint's Mobile Defense product is tailored to protecting not just devices (iOS and Android included), but also apps and networks. The product detects and blocks apps that pose a security risk, as well as providing detection of dangerous Wi-Fi access points and device exploits.

RiskIQ

Elias Manousos, CEO

Headquarters: San Francisco

RiskIQ offers a digital threat management platform that includes protection against mobile threats. Ransomware, phishing, malvertising and social impersonation are among the threats that the company helps to defend against.

RSA

Rohit Ghai, President

Headquarters: Bedford, Mass.

RSA's SecurID Suite, which provides access management and identity governance, includes access protection for mobile applications within an enterprise. RSA SecurID Access software tokens support platforms including iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.

Skycure

Adi Sharabani, CEO

Headquarters: Palo Alto, Calif.

Skycure aims to cover the full span of the mobile security realm by providing prediction, detection and prevention of mobile threats. And the platform covers a variety of threats as well, including vulnerabilities, malware, network threats and risks of physical access to devices.

Sophos

Kris Hagerman, CEO

Headquarters: Abingdon, U.K.

The company's secure enterprise mobility management offering, Sophos Mobile, aims to keep corporate data safe through a variety of means. Those include management of mobile devices, content and applications, as well as mobile security measures such as anti-phishing and anti-malware protections.

SOTI

Carl Rodrigues, CEO

Headquarters: Mississauga, Ontario

MobiControl, the flagship product from SOTI, provides offerings including mobile device management and mobile security, with the latest release adding unified endpoint management for enhanced data protection across all mobile endpoints. The recent release also adds improved remote control of mobile devices and enhanced management of Windows 10 devices.

Symantec

Greg Clark, CEO

Headquarters: Mountain View, Calif.

Symantec's offerings in the mobile realm include mobile device management, with features such as real-time systems management and over-the-air inventory, and mobile security, such as advanced encryption, threat prevention, data loss prevention and authentication.

Tanium

Orion Hindawi, CEO

Headquarters: Emeryville, Calif.

Tanium's endpoint security technologies continuously scan all endpoints in a network to detect security threats, and also offer vulnerability assessment and incident response. Meanwhile, in terms of endpoint management, Tanium offers patch management, asset inventory and software distribution.

ThreatTrack Security

Usman Choudhary, Chief Product Officer

Headquarters: Clearwater, Fla.

ThreatTrack, through its VIPRE product, provides an endpoint protection offering tailored to small and midsize businesses, and featuring technologies including a robust anti-malware engine. The offering also includes mobile device management and protection against threats such as ransomware and zero-day exploits.

VMware

Pat Gelsinger, CEO

Headquarters: Palo Alto, Calif.

VMware's AirWatch aims to serve as a comprehensive platform for management of all endpoints (through a single console). Mobile device management, mobile application management and identity management are key features, while the platform also provides employees with easy access to native and web apps through a unified app catalog.

WatchGuard

Prakash Panjwani, CEO

Headquarters: Seattle

A specialist in network security, WatchGuard offers mobile-oriented features such as Network Discovery (which lets IT staff scan networks for unauthorized devices) and Mobile Security (for identifying and auditing mobile devices connected to the network).

Webroot

Dick Williams, CEO

Headquarters: Broomfield, Colo.

Webroot's SecureAnywhere Business Endpoint Protection platform offers support for smartphones and tablets, running iOS or Android. Features of the platform include Identity & Privacy Shield, which protects user information and transactional data from a multitude of threats, and Infrared, which leverages threat intelligence to counter threats early on.

Zscaler

Jay Chaudhry, CEO

Headquarters: San Jose, Calif.

Zscaler's mobile security offerings focus on scanning all traffic into and out of mobile devices for malicious content or attacks. Features include app store access control and blocking of malicious apps and it integrates with mobile device management offerings.