As mobility becomes entrenched in the enterprise, undetected and unprotected mobile devices continue to pose a host of dangers that could undoubtedly wreak havoc on your network, making your enterprise susceptible to sabotage and litigation, and -- more importantly -- damaging your business reputation. Third-party mobile security applications are becoming extremely useful tools for providing the ability to protect and manage mobile devices and the network to which they connect.

Protecting mobile devices from data loss or theft, viruses, and attacks is a critical component of your overall mobility strategy and an integral part of protecting your corporate network and valuable data. Mobile security and management products must provide policy enforcement, virus protection, and encryption and authentication, helping to ensure critical communication access and functions for your mobile employees.

Dozens of enterprise-grade mobile security products are currently available, but only a few are worthy of our exclusive 2008 Product Leadership awards, and only one can win the gold.

Readers honored ZENworks Endpoint Security Management from Novell with the coveted gold award in mobile security. According to Novell, ZENworks automatically enforces security policies at the endpoint to control device ports, wireless connections and applications, and guarantees data encryption. With ZENworks Endpoint Security Management, enterprises can ensure compliance and mitigate threats to secure the network without losing mobility.

More than 80% of surveyed ZENworks users said they saw good or excellent frequency/speed of signature updates and ease of updating devices. Almost 80% rated as good or excellent the product's effectiveness in detecting, blocking and cleaning up malware and exploits, and more than 78% praised the product's reporting and alerting function.

Readers also applauded ZENworks' ease of management and maintenance, giving it top ratings in each of those criteria. One user noted that ZENworks is a "great product that integrated well into our current environment."

Kara Gattine, Managing Editor