Data Transfer Security

Owned by Ray Pearce (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Jan 12, 2015
2 min read

Data transfer is the process of sending data to and from a mobile device and a server.

The software running on the server will depend on the needs of the particular answerSpace (or Web App or App Shell). The answerSpace may be connecting to common software such as Sharepoint, or it may need to communicate with custom software or even directly to a cloud-hosted or network-hosted database.

The data transfer could be simply to read data from a remote service and display it to the mobile user, however in many cases projects will also require the ability to send data back from the mobile device for storage on the company network or database.

Note that the BlinkMobile Platform does not store data. It is designed as a pass-through service where it orchestrates and managers the flow of data between a mobile device and a remote service, without storing any of that data.

The flow of data between a mobile device and the BlinkMobile Platform, as well as between the BlinkMobile Platform and the company network or database is all encrypted using SSL.

Methods of connection can and will vary depending on project needs.

Data being sent to and from a software application such as Sharepoint may already have web services or APIs built in to the software. These web services or APIs are designed specifically to allow a remote device to communicate securely with the software application. This may be as simple as reading data to be distributed to mobile devices, or it may require the ability to also write data back to the system.

For security reasons, a project may first incorporate an authentication process to ensure only valid users can read and write to a remote system or database. Authentication processes are described in the first part of this document.

For integration with systems that don’t offer their own web service or API, or only offer limited connectivity, custom web services may be created and hosted on the company network. By using web services, the firewall does not need to offer general remote access; only specific communication for a web service or API needs to be opened up, allowing specific and tight security options.

The Blink Mobility Platform has the ability to connect to multiple web services, APIs, and other sources, and then combining and assembling the data for display to the end user.