AT&T to Offer First Carrier-Provided, Two Factor Encryption Service for Smartphones

AT&T today launched AT&T Encrypted Mobile Voice, a carrier-provided two factor encryption service, which provides high-level security features for calls on the AT&T wireless network. The service is targeted at government agencies, law enforcement organizations, financial services institutions and international businesses.

According to ABI Research, as smartphone distribution among the mobile business customer base increases, mobile phone security features will become more prominent, particularly among mid- and large-size company employees. Smartphone penetration among mobile business customers in the United States is expected to increase from about 28% to about 45% by 2014(1). And in a survey conducted by AT&T in June, three out of four executives are concerned about how the use of mobile networks/devices could potentially impact security.

AT&T Encrypted Mobile Voice combines KoolSpan's TrustChip and SRA International's One Vault Voice™ into a carrier-provided two-factor encryption solution. TrustChip is a fully hardened, self-contained crypto engine inserted into the smartphone's microSD slot. Embedded with AT&T TrustGroup, the KoolSpan TrustChip offers the strength of additional hardware authentication, enables encrypted calling interoperability with a defined group of other AT&T TrustGroup users and can be managed over-the-air.

SRA's One Vault Voice integrates the security functions of the TrustChip with a feature rich application that provides an intuitive user interface. This powerful combination allows users to easily place and receive encrypted calls by integrating with the mobile phone's standard operation and address book to provide a user friendly and seamless security option. This on-demand security function delivers mutual authentication and end-to-end encryption to enable a high-level security call mode.

AT&T Encrypted Mobile Voice supports BlackBerry smartphones and Windows® Phones on the AT&T wireless network. Unlike other encrypted voice systems, AT&T Encrypted Mobile Voice is not limited by availability of legacy Circuit Switched Data coverage and can operate in the over 190 countries globally where AT&T provides data roaming. AT&T Encrypted Mobile Voice meets the government information classification standards for Controlled Unclassified Information, offering The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) FIPS – 140-2 validation.

"Year over year, the cost of compromised data and operational security threats has increased dramatically," said Pat Burke, SRA Senior Vice President of Offerings and Products. "These threats have elevated cyber security as a strategic priority for both business and government organizations worldwide."

"This solution was designed to address these very requirements," said Tony Fascenda, KoolSpan Chief Executive Officer. "We help resolve the privacy and national security concerns of our customers by using standard smartphones on public networks to create secure calls globally."