The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) has released version 1.0 of the security guidance for critical areas of mobile computing. The guide details the various elements associated with mobile computing that corporations should consider and how to apply it in your business.

The document “Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Mobile Computing” at Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) provides an assessment of the current situation of the mobile cloud computing , as well as details of the main threats today exist in this area.

Mobile computing has fundamentally transformed the way we work, ushering in a new era of productivity and efficiency. But the benefits wrought by mobility ultimately come with a cost in terms of ensuring that established security protocols are consistently and correctly applied. This guidance is the product of many months of in-depth research on behalf of the CSA Mobile Working Group and represents an important step in mitigating the inherent risks that comes with mobile computing.

Over 100 member companies, along with the research team of CSA have worked together to develop this guidance guide of 60 pages, which provides a comprehensive view of the landscape of mobile security.

The report is divided into three major sections.

1. Mobile Definition: The first is the mobile computing in providing a framework for the purpose of the report.
2. Current State of Mobile Computing: The second addresses the current status details on the maturity of mobile technology in corporate environments; it also addresses the threats and concerns of IT professionals in regards to mobile computing.
3. Mobile Components for Consideration: Finally the report provides an introduction to each of the main components of the mobile cloud computing, including trends like Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), authentication, application stores, mobile devices management (MDM) and security. These subsections address the areas to be considered within each of these components, and possible ways to implement and support each component.

Besides preserving data security and managing a myriad of personal devices, companies must also consider a new set of legal and ethical issues that may arise when employees are using their own devices for work. Companies that don’t protect themselves through policies place themselves at great financial risk, the report says.

The Mobile Working Group, co-chaired by David Lingenfelter of Fiberlink and Cesare Garlati of Trend Micro is responsible for providing the fundamental research to help protect mobile computing from a cloud centric point of view. The CSA invites and involves companies and individuals to support research and initiatives of the group.