At the recent Assises de la Sécurité conference, Bull launched a secure smartphone known as Hoox m2. The device, with its native security, offers the same levels of functionality as today’s mass-market smartphones. According to Philippe Duluc – Director of Bull’s Cyber-security Offering – it has been specifically designed to restore a climate of trust when it comes to the use of these hi-tech gadgets, especially since it guarantees the confidentiality of any communications it is used for and all the data it holds.
Philippe Duluc: Bull has just launched a secure smartphone called Hoox m2, the latest addition to our Hoox range of highly secure communications devices for business use. Our teams have designed the first ever smartphone with native security that offers the same levels of functionality as mass-market consumer smartphones. It is designed specifically to restore a climate of trust for our customers when it comes to using these hi-tech gadgets, especially by guaranteeing that any communications they use it for and any data is holds is kept confidential.
Hoox m2 is the first smartphone that has this unprecedented level of security designed in from the start, both at the hardware and the software levels, and it’s totally dedicated to protecting its business users’ data and securing their communications end to end. It not only protects exchanges including voice calls, texts and emails, but also data that is stored on the terminal in encrypted format.
The recent diktat from the French Prime Minister’s Office telling ministerial and government officials to stop using their consumer smartphones and tablets for sensitive communications confirms our own analysis when it comes to the issue of mobile communications security. As a French manufacturer of secure devices we are determined to offer, with Hoox, the option for government and private companies alike to communicate in total security even in mobile situations.
GS Mag: How does your solution work?
Philippe Duluc: The Hoox range is a comprehensive solution that can be quickly and easily integrated into an IT infrastructure. Communications are encrypted in way that’s totally invisible to users. The Hoox family includes secure, ready-to-use smartphones, a security gateway for administering the devices and a smartcard manager.
The Hoox smartphone is totally secure – from the hardware level right through to the apps – and provides fundamental protection against current cyber-threats. It ensures that all peripherals and communications ports are strictly controlled. Its integral locking system can only be disarmed via biometric or logical authentication. Emails and data are transferred via an encrypted communications channel, in line with our customers’ security policies.
GS Mag: What are the greatest strengths of this solution?
Philippe Duluc: The greatest strength of the Hoox m2 smartphone lies in the way it secures the underlying software layers: the Android-based OS has been totally controlled and modified on the basis of a very thorough risk analysis: security has become a native feature. Bull has been investing heavily in this area of sovereignty: for many years now an R&D team at Bull’s subsidiary Time Reversal Communications, drawn from the French consumer mobile device industry, has been dedicated to tackling these new challenges.
Our solution addresses the real need for a highly secure smartphone over which our customers have total control, in line with their own corporate security policies. Not only does the organization control security, but so does the user: he or she can take their eye off their phone without fear of surreptitious intrusion. It really is the first smartphone to test malware, whether it is introduced via physical ports, radio channels or accessible apps.
Communications encryption is totally invisible for the user, so security doesn’t intrude on business activities. With its intuitive, tactile user interface, Hoox m2 is ergonomic and it’s easy and fast to get to grips with it. It also enjoys a high degree of autonomy, for the comfort of its users.
Finally, our end-to-end mobile security solution extends our offering with a comprehensive approach. System administration, training, installation and implementation services form an integral part of what we offer. With Hoox products, the organization can actively protect and manage its information systems assets. When it comes to security for mobile, we believe that Hoox m2 is the most complete offering available in Europe to date.
GS Mag: What type of business is this solution aimed at?
Philippe Duluc: Our Hoox product family is designed for organizations that deal with sensitive information, right up to ‘Restricted’ level. Global competition is exposing all kinds of organizations and businesses to industrial and strategic espionage. Sensitive data – like manufacturing secrets, or information that’s exchanged as part of commercial negotiations or during the course of mergers and/or acquisitions – represent real added value that organizations need to protect, so as to maintain their competitiveness at an international level. The Hoox product range offers employees who deal with this sensitive information a secure medium for their mobile digital communications.
When it comes to security, businesses and public sector organizations alike are going to be weighed down with a growing number of legislative and regulatory requirements, sometimes accompanied by sanctions on Directors: the protection of personal data, security for Operators of Vital Infrastructures, the reporting of cyber attacks, new EU Directives… Nowadays, a telecoms operator that loses a USB key with thousands of bank card numbers on it is obliged to report this to the relevant authority, and to warn each of those thousands of people individually about the loss, unless the key has been encrypted to a sufficiently high level. So it’s increasingly worth the effort to encrypt data and communications…
GS Mag: What targets have you set yourselves in terms of winning market share, both in France and in Europe, in the coming 12 months?
Philippe Duluc: Hoox m2 is the first smartphone in its category. What we want to do, is to offer this technological innovation globally, especially in countries that pay attention to the sovereignty of their data. In order to develop our offering to its best potential, we are initially focusing on Europe and the Middle East, before offering our solution more widely.
GS Mag: What commercial and marketing resources are you using to achieve this goal?
Philippe Duluc: Bull’s sales force has been trained and familiarized with Hoox m2 and its functionality. We have already brought together a network of partners, around the launch of the first Hoox device. We are bringing them up to speed on this latest addition to the Hoox family, so they will be in the best position to tell their customers all about it.
Our marketing strategy involves building awareness among our customers about the risks of using commercial mobile devices and to demonstrate the advantages of our end-to-end security solution. We’re presenting the key features of Hoox m2 at the Assises de la Sécurité 2013 in Monaco and at other forthcoming events.
GS Mag: What is your message to ISSMs?
Philippe Duluc: Increased visibility of the risks associated with mobile communications and computing is giving ISSMs new arguments for further strengthening the security of their corporate information systems. With the Hoox smartphone, we’re giving them a reliable, highly functional solution that will integrate rapidly and totally seamlessly with their information systems. Deploying Hoox products is a fast and effective way to boost the confidentiality of your communications.
Source : http://www.globalsecuritymag.fr/Philippe-Duluc-Bull-Hoox-m2-le,20131003,40027.html, October 2013, Marc Jacob