Smart Phones: The Fifth Wave of Computing!

Two recent analyst reports detail the proliferation of smartphone apps. ABI Research predicts that mobile application downloads from iOS and Android will account for 78% of all application downloads in 2010, with iOS (the iPhone's operating system) taking the lion's share of 52% of all applications. Meanwhile iSuppli predicts Android will be used in 75 million smartphones by 2012, up from 5 million in 2009. Meanwhile, iOS usage will amount to 62 million in 2012, up from 25 million in 2009. Sales of these multi-function hand-held internet connected computers are expected to pass up sales of traditional PC's and laptops well before the middle of this new decade.

Overall, I believe this represents a titanic shift in the computing industry. If we step back far enough we can see perhaps four massive waves in the evolution of computing: first, the custom/boutique computing period of 1940's and 1950's, then the mainframe period of the 1960's through 1970's, then the minicomputer period from the 1970's through the 1990's, and the PC period from the early 1980's to the 2010's. The fifth wave is upon us, and it is the "smartphone" period.

Note how with each wave, old winners faded away, and new winners emerged. Nowhere is this more stark today than the fading glory of Microsoft, huge winner in the PC wave...with virtually no technology or product position in the heart of the smartphone wave.

In this new wave, the iPhone is the front runner, and Android-based smartphones are gaining in what appears to be a two-horse race, as the overall smartphone market is poised for explosive growth. This is great news for the smartphone ecosystem, while at the same perhaps a "deer in the headlight" moment for enterprise security teams.

Today's smartphones continue to expand in functionality, driven by huge numbers of innovative applications and generally better performance as a computing device. The iPhone and Android-based phone is rapidly becoming a serious alternative as a general personal computing device offering unique value in terms of personal mobility.

This is leading to sticky issues for enterprise security teams. What applications are okay to download? Will any applications used for personal purposes create any security issues (i.e. malware) with applications to be used at work? Can third party "business" applications be generally trusted? What are the additional costs to add smartphones to the already broad mix of enterprise IT managed devices? Are the appropriate security policies and underlying practices, mechanisms and resources in place?

While no doubt a daunting task for the enterprise security teams, this is yet another reason why widely used data protection methods aimed at "defending the perimeter," are not enough in today's distributed computing world. Today, companies need to adopt new strategies aimed at integrating security into the software and application themselves. Given today's distributed enterprise computing model, a modern enterprise literally has no set network perimeter to defend. This was true with the laptop and home PC being used routinely as a corporate computing devices. But now with the smart phone filling the same role, the distributed computing nature of the modern enterprise reaches it ultimate manifestation: corporate computing is happening everywhere there are employees, everywhere they go, all the time.

Obviously the security industry must roll up its sleeves and expand the notion of enterprise security. In this process, the old models of "centralized everything" probably won't work. Individuals must broaden their awareness and their personal practices, because these are "personally managed" devices. Application providors must consider the risks and take appropriate actions to protect their applications from cloning and trojan insertion. Lastly, device and the system software providers must continue to enhance and refine the security attributes, features and functions of the devices themselves.

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Late breaking news: Intel, with a growing new focus on mobile computing, acquires McAfee, and the talk is all about...traditional PC anti-virus you say? No! Not a word! The talk is all about the need for Intel to get a position in mobile/wireless computing security. Just another indication that the fifth wave of computing is upon us.