a la Mobile Introduces Mobile Industry’s Most Secure Linux Platform

Company Incorporates Cutting Edge Security Functions Into Convergent Linux Platform to Bring Enterprise-Class Security to Mobile Linux Smart Devices

SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--a la Mobile, Inc.,(www.a-la-mobile.com) the premier Linux systems platform and open source technology company for mobile devices, today announced the availability of the patent-pending Mobile Security Engine (MSE) for its mobile phone operating system, the Convergent Linux Platform (CLP). a la Mobile’s Mobile Security Engine is built into the Convergent Linux Platform and equips handsets with enterprise-class security functionality, including protection from malware, malicious attacks and unauthorized access, as well as device-level tamper protection, to provide the industry’s most secure platform for Linux-based mobile devices.

The Mobile Security Engine uniquely combines enterprise-class security techniques, including encryption and sandboxing, to protect against software-based threats and guard the integrity of a lost, stolen or tampered-with device and the corporate or personal data that resides on that handset. Specifically, a la Mobile’s pending patent is focused on the location of the security technology – at the bootloader and kernel levels. Unlike traditional smartphone security solutions that are added on as applications, a la Mobile utilizes secure boot, secure firmware update, application sandboxing and encrypted file system features at the most fundamental layer of its operating system platform to ensure security is transparent to the user, while providing market-leading protection for all handsets and the various applications that are incorporated into a la Mobile’s open Linux platform for mobile devices.

“Mobile handsets are evolving from traditional voice-centric phones with limited data functions into sophisticated multimedia devices capable of deploying a broad range of enterprise and consumer applications,” said Pauline Lo Alker, CEO and President of a la Mobile. “However, increased use of data-rich applications leaves mobile devices more vulnerable to a variety of security threats such as viruses, fraud and handset thefts. A stolen handset means not only the loss of personal property; it presents security risks involving access to personal and corporate information stored on the device.”

According to Bill Hughes, principal analyst at market research firm In-Stat, "there will be 8 million phones lost in 2007, including 700,000 smart phones. Many of these, particularly the smart phones, are a corporate data security breach waiting to happen and make headlines."

a la Mobile provides handset manufacturers with a security platform that protects wireless devices from both malicious software-based threats and human-initiated data theft resulting from lost or stolen handsets. At its core, the Mobile Security Engine consists of a unique combination of the following four security components:

* Secure Boot Loader – This component ensures the integrity of the operating system against tampering at device boot time through a digital signature verification of the kernel.
* Encrypted File System – A component built into the kernel, this feature together with the unique placement of the encryption key, ensures that all data stored in the device is encrypted to prevent unauthorized or malicious access.
* Trust Domain Enforcement (Application sandboxing) – All applications embedded in the CLP stack are digitally “signed” to give protection against malware attacks. Only “signed” applications are given access to sensitive system operations, such as reading personal user data stored in the device, placing calls or modifying system settings, etc.
* Secure Firmware Update – This element is used to update the bootloader, the kernel, or applications. However, in order to prevent firmware replacement attacks, the update file is digitally “signed” and verified by the bootloader before the firmware is updated.

The Mobile Security Engine is integrated into each and every handset built on the Convergent Linux Platform. a la Mobile’s complete mobile Linux operating system platform integrates all device drivers, Linux kernel and middleware, in addition to a browser, JAVA, Adobe Flash and a core suite of applications such as messaging, push-mail, VoIP, firmware over-the-air update and streaming multimedia.

“As the only company with a complete Linux system platform available in the market ready for delivery to handset vendors, a la Mobile is excited to announce the addition of these critical security functions to our mobile Linux offering,” Alker added. “We continue to lead the industry by providing our handset customers with an operating system platform that allows them to ship differentiating products in this quickly evolving and highly competitive market.”

The Mobile Security Engine, integrated with the CLP, is available for customers immediately.

About a la Mobile’s Convergent Linux Platform (CLP)

a la Mobile’s Convergent Linux is the only complete operating system (OS) platform for mobile phones with an entirely open and configurable platform. It is also the first mobile OS platform that enables a single software stack in binary form to move across different handsets – even those based on processors from different manufacturers – without tedious and costly porting or modifications, thereby dramatically accelerating time-to-market and ensuring device software interoperability. The open nature of Convergent Linux provides handset manufacturers with the opportunity to choose the software components, functionality and device look-and-feel that are best-suited for their target customers. Furthermore, the platform is a full and complete mobile software stack (from device drivers and Linux kernel to middleware and applications): integrated; tested; certified; supported; and maintained, giving manufacturers the peace-of-mind to roll-out new product families based on the Linux operating system.

About a la Mobile

a la Mobile, Inc. (www.a-la-mobile.com) is the premier open Linux system platform and open source technology provider to the mobile industry. Founded in 2005, a la Mobile is led by President and CEO Pauline Lo Alker, a serial high-tech entrepreneur with multiple success track records and backed by Venrock Associates (www.venrock.com), a top-tier venture capital firm in the U.S. with offices in Menlo Park, Boston and New York. a la Mobile, headquartered in San Ramon, California, has operations in the U.S., China and Taiwan.