Thanks to recent innovations in the mobile device industry, demand for mobile
applications has soared. In fact, consumers have already downloaded billions of
applications for mobile devices, and industry reports point to ongoing rapid growth
in the mobile apps market
.
At the same time, malware continues to infect sites at an explosive rate. The
proliferation of mobile applications – and the growing threat posed by malware –
mean that mobile devices and networks now face an even greater risk of becoming
infected with malicious content. Once an infection occurs, the consequences can
be potentially disastrous for consumers, developers, and network operators alike.
Mobile application developers need to secure their code and content to protect
the integrity of their software and the reputation of their business. Similarly,
consumers need assurances that the latest cool game or productivity application
that they are downloading to their mobile device is coming from a trusted
source and has not been tampered with during transit. At the same time,
legitimate independent software vendors (ISVs) who typically publish multiple
applications – and several versions of each application – need easy-to-use
tools to track and administer their software. Robust tools, such as a Web-based
management portal, can track releases and safely “recall” specific versions that
become infected without impacting the rest of their published applications.