Enterprise rights management (ERM) solutions provider Liquid Machines recently upgraded its Gateway (News - Alert) for BlackBerry product, adding new features that lets enterprise customers control access to and usage of communications capabilities protected by Microsoft Windows Rights Management Services.

 

Thanks to the new features, BlackBerry (News - Alert) smartphone users now can send and receive RMS-protected attachments and messages using RMS policies built into Microsoft Outlook.

 

“Liquid Machines was the first BlackBerry Alliance member to deliver Microsoft (News - Alert) RMS support to the BlackBerry platform, and with this release we significantly raise the bar for usability and scalability,” said Ed Gaudet, senior vice president of corporate development and marketing at Liquid machines, in a statement. “Our mutual customers now can enjoy the productivity of a BlackBerry smartphone with enhanced, persistent protection of confidential emails and documents safeguarding their mobile workforce from data loss.”

 

Key to this upgrade is the concept of user-level control rather than merely device- or transmission-level security, Liquid Machines said in its announcement. This means that e-mails and attachments are protected not only from interception while en route, but also from unauthorized viewing, forwarding, replying, or copying/pasting of information. Content can be set to automatically “expire” at a particular time based on usage and retention policies.

 

Mobile data protection (MDP) systems and procedures are necessary to guard user privacy and comply with audit requirements, noted Gartner analyst Ray Wagner.

 

“Interest in data protection is fuelled by liability and privacy concerns,” Wagner said. “Civil and criminal penalties for data leaks, and pressure to disclose leaks, are also growing in other countries. Even if information is not misused, negative public reaction is expensive and embarrassing, and it damages buyer and investor confidence.”

 

Wagner added that MDP for handheld devices and notebooks is a fast-growing market that has expanded beyond security for hard drives and local files “to encompass external data device controls and rights management.”

 

Features included with Liquid Machines Gateway for RMS 7.0 includes persistent protection of messages on BlackBerry smartphones, enhanced PIN-to-PIN messaging, support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.1.6 on Windows 32- and 64-bit servers, blocking of copy/paste operations, e-mail expiration enforcement, and compatibility with international character sets.