Open Kernel Labs Unveils SecureIT Mobile for Building Secure Smartphones

In the past, secure communications devices emerged from highly proprietary design and acquisition cycles, resulting in systems that were hard to build, expensive to acquire, difficult to maintain, and impossible to upgrade. They also imposed yet another device for personnel to carry in addition to non-secure radios, handsets and computers.

Today, government agencies and private sector organizations – from homeland security to public safety to emergency responders to corporate security – have immediate needs for secure communications in a user-friendly form-factor. Federal, state, and local government CIOs, government agency IT management, and the integrators and contractors that service them are leaving behind the world of proprietary legacy systems and looking for commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions.

SecureIT Mobile – Secure Mobile Communications and Apps
Ideally, secure mobile communication builds on commercially available devices that deploy off-the-shelf software platforms and applications (running Android, Symbian, etc.). Devices need to support regular communications and applications for “normal” conversations (personal communications, social networking, etc.) but also support secure exchanges (encrypted voice, text, even video) among similarly equipped devices and/or infrastructure. In keeping with “COTS Initiatives” launched by the U.S. and other governments, OK Labs is introducing SecureIT Mobile, a supply-chain alternative that leverages off-the-shelf software and hardware:

•Standard smartphones and application OSes
•Off-the-shelf encryption software and hardware (e.g., “look-aside” encryption chips on SD cards)
•Mobile virtualization
“Police, firefighters, and other government workers need a single device for both secure and personal communications,” said Steve Subar, President and CEO, OK Labs. “Previously, such devices were only seen on TV or in movies, with actual secure handsets requiring costly development of custom hardware and software. Now, OK Labs SecureIT Mobile solution brings together the technology and knowhow to streamline the supply chain and deliver secure smartphones built on COTS hardware and software.”

Availability – Product and White Paper
OK Labs SecureIT Mobile is available today to help agency IT, government contractors, third-party integrators, and OEMs collaborate to build secure mobile communications devices. The OK Labs offering includes the OKL4 Microvisor, ready-to-deploy OK:Android, board support for a range of development hardware, and a menu of development and integration services direct from OK Labs.

OK Labs is also offering a white paper exploring real-world requirements and solutions for secure communications, which details a virtualization-based architecture for VoIP, SMS, enterprise applications and other media. Download the Technology White Paper at http://www.ok-labs.com/landing/secure-it-mobile/

Partnering for Secure Mobile Solutions
SecureIT Mobile starts by helping device OEMs to secure the platform, providing opportunities for all types of wireless ecosystem partners to create new security solutions:

•OK Labs and partner Sirrix earlier collaborated to create a SecureIT Mobile proof-of-concept, and Sirrix plans to deliver its own solutions based on the OK Labs platform. “The OKL4 Microvisor
provides strong isolation, broad device support and sleek performance – a rock solid
foundation for building and delivering secure and certifiable systems,” noted Ammar Alkassar,
CEO, Sirrix AG security technologies. “Together with OK Labs, we can offer manufacturers, integrators, enterprises and government agencies off-the-shelf solutions for trustworthy and reliable mobile communications.”
•Aligning with the world’s largest dedicated security technology company, OK Labs has joined the newly created McAfee Connected, a partner program aimed at helping partners worldwide ensure product and service compatibility with McAfee solutions
•Earlier this year, OK Labs and partner Citrix introduced the Nirvana Phone, a superphone proof-of-concept built with the OKL4 Microvisor and the Citrix Virtual Desktop Agent. The Nirvana Phone exemplifies Mobile-to-Enterprise (M2E) virtualization, providing secure mobile access to enterprise assets and applications.
•Last year, OK Labs commercialization partner NICTA (National ICT Australia) announced formal verification of seL4 – built from the same microkernel technology used in the OKL4 Microvisor. Using formal logic and theorem-checking, the project proved the correctness of the seL4 kernel, promising unprecedented reliability and security. Stay tuned for announcements about products based on this groundbreaking security research.
Key Facts

•SecureIT Mobile enables government workers and security personnel to communicate securely using off-the-shelf mobile devices, OSes, and applications
•The OK Labs solution enables integration of COTS components into secure devices by mobile/wireless OEMs, third-party integrators and government contractors
•OK Labs is providing a SecureIT Mobile White Paper at http://www.ok-labs.com/landing/secure-it-mobile/
•OK Labs has joined the newly created McAfee Connected, a partner program aimed at helping partners worldwide ensure product and service compatibility with McAfee solutions
•Popular examples of secure communications devices include the “ObamaBerry” and the “Jack Bauer Phone” from the popular television program “24”