RSA, The Security Division of EMC, announced an expansion of its solutions designed to make information security a reality for organizations worldwide, and to help them solve their most sensitive and complex security challenges.

Key to this expansion are RSA's moves to provide organizations with a comprehensive and effective means of recognizing, assessing and mitigating the risks that information is exposed to throughout its lifecycle - no matter where it moves, who accesses it or how it is used. Armed with a holistic view of risk related to information across the enterprise - and a complete picture of the ever-changing nature of information's value and associated threats - organizations can more aggressively address business challenges, and explore new markets, partnerships, business models and innovations with greater confidence.

RSA's announcements at RSA Conference Europe include an extended technical partnership with Symbian - along with the availability of the RSA SecurID Software Token 2.2 for Symbian OS and UIQ. This will help enable businesspeople using smartphones based on UIQ and Symbian OS to leverage their devices to access protected corporate information securely, eliminating the need to carry a separate, stand-alone authenticator. RSA also unveiled the findings of a new Datamonitor study conducted amongst European financial services organizations. The research demonstrates how these organizations are addressing the challenges associated with managing information, and the risks information is exposed to as it flows throughout the enterprise.

"RSA's drive to re-focus information security onto the information itself - via a continuous and holistic view of information risk throughout the lifecycle - is resonating with our customers and partners," said Art Coviello, EVP, EMC Corporation and President of RSA, The Security Division of EMC. "This speaks to the market's recognition that information security is an information management problem, and one that needs to be approached not just strategically but culturally within organizations. Addressed in this way, security can provide the platform for innovation and other, dynamic new business behaviors - and help organizations achieve their full potential."

RSA's information-centric approach matches the desire it is seeing from customers to get out of the reactive phase when it comes to information security. Protecting information is one of the core elements of EMC's information infrastructure strategy, and RSA's charter - to bind security directly to information and the people who need it - supports the strategy through the delivery of end-to-end protection.

Traditional approaches - which focus on network and perimeter security to reduce risk to critical business information - can open the door to other forms of information risk that have the potential to undermine key business initiatives. Using a combination of RSA and EMC technologies, new services, best practices and a strategic partner ecosystem, RSA's comprehensive information risk management solution is designed to enable businesses to place controls where they are needed across the entire information lifecycle, helping to ensure that information is always an asset and never a liability.

"Information security is becoming a fundamental component in the design of business systems and processes. A holistic approach is required that addresses the needs of information availability, accessibility, authenticity, integrity and protection from misuse," said Graham Titterington, Principal Analyst at Ovum. "This can only be achieved by designing them in to our systems and processes. Security is no longer a bolt-on extra."