ICSA Labs Launches Industry-First Program to Test VPN Security Features of Smartphones, Tablets and Other Mobile Devices

MECHANICSBURG, Pa., May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- To help millions of enterprise users of smartphones and tablets send and receive data securely, ICSA Labs is offering the industry's first testing program for determining whether these devices meet the latest security standards for connecting with VPNs (virtual private networks).  VPNs enable employees working off-site to securely browse websites and use enterprise-provided applications such as email.

The new program, Mobile Device VPN Security, is available immediately for wireless carriers and mobile device manufacturers.  Verizon Wireless is the program's first customer.

"As tablets and smart phones continue to empower enterprises and their employees with a borderless work style, the testing of mobile devices' VPN functionality is increasingly important to verify that confidential company information is adequately protected," said Jack Walsh, mobile security and special projects program manager at ICSA Labs.  "Our security-testing program provides peace of mind to the carriers whose networks link to millions of smart devices, and to the enterprise users of those devices."

According to the "Verizon 2012 Data Breach Investigations Report," mobile threats are on the rise, as enterprises now have many more smartphones and tablets than servers.  These mobile devices are often widely distributed, highly mobile, less restricted and controlled by end users. As a result, mobile devices frequently factor into enterprise data breaches and contribute greatly to overall data loss.

ICSA Labs' Mobile Device VPN Security testing program verifies that mobile phones and tablets meet current security standards.  This includes testing the devices' implementation of Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2), which improves upon the security of IKEv1 and offers enhanced protection against denial-of-service attacks.

ICSA Labs has been testing VPN security for more than 15 years and has extensive experience evaluating VPN clients and servers against all relevant network security standards.

To learn more about the new testing program, visit the Mobile Device VPN Security testing program web page.  For information about the largest security threats for 2012 including mobile device security, read ICSA Labs Top Security Threats.

About ICSA Labs

ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon, offers third-party testing and certification of security and health IT products, as well as network-connected devices, to measure product compliance, reliability and performance for many of the world's top security vendors.  ICSA Labs is an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited and 9001:2008 registered organization. Visit http://www.ICSAlabs.com and http://www.ICSAlabs.com/blogs for more information.  

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with 93 million retail customers nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with $111 billion in 2011 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of nearly 192,000.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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SOURCE Verizon