Deutsche Telekom to boost security offering for European enterprises

That's one of the reasons Deutsche Telekom is partnering with two security companies to offer services to smaller companies that don't have the resources to install and operate their own MDM (mobile device management) or endpoint security systems.

Internet Protect Pro and Mobile Protect Pro are rebranded versions of services from Zscaler and Zimperium, respectively. The CEOs of the two companies joined Deutsche Telekom executives on stage at the Cebit tradeshow in Hanover, Germany, on Thursday to announce the deals.

The services will initially be rolled out in Germany, and later to customers in other countries where Deutsche Telekom operates networks. These include Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

Deutsche Telekom plans to charge a few euros per device per month for Mobile Protect Pro, a combination of a mobile app and central dashboard that Zimperium sells as zIPS.

The app is available for both Android and iOS, and will run on unrooted devices.

It provides what the companies describe as a "continuous ECG" for smartphones, looking out for known security problems and also for abnormal behavior on the device or on the network, which may be a sign of an as-yet-unknown attack. If it determines that the device is compromised, it can issue a warning and lock it out of the corporate network until it has been inspected and cleaned.

The scanning for abnormal behavior is done without examining or transmitting users' personal data. If something is spotted, the app reports it to Deutsche Telekom's security team for follow-up.

Deutsche Telekom will begin trials of Mobile Protect Pro next month, offering commercial service from the third quarter.

Internet Protect Pro is a cloud-based firewall based on software from Zscaler. For its German customers, Deutsche Telekom will run it in its own data centers in Biere, Germany, ensuring that their data doesn't leave the country.

The service can protect networks at company headquarters and branch offices, said Ferri Abolhassan, director of Telekom Security, a new division Deutsche Telekom is setting up to manage all its security offerings.

In a demo on stage at Cebit, he showed how the service can prevent ransomware attacks by identifying files containing malware and preventing their execution.

Deutsche Telekom will begin trials of both services in the second quarter, offering commercial service from the third quarter.