Motorola buys Android security company 3LM

IDG News Service - Motorola Mobility said Monday that it has bought 3LM, a company that develops enterprise security and device management products for Android devices.

Motorola said that 3LM's technology addresses ease-of-use, cost-of-management and security concerns for IT managers, and its products allow for the development of enterprise security features.

Motorola Mobility, which was recently formed when Motorola split into two separate companies, completed the deal in late 2010. It didn't disclose terms of the deal.

The security company says 3LM stands for "three laws of mobility" that devices should follow: protect the user from malicious code or content, protect the device itself by securing data and communications, and obey the user unless this would cause a security problem.

While Motorola will use 3LM's technology in its own Android phones, it also hopes to allow other handset makers to use the technology too. That strategy, where a mobile phone vendor hopes to sell technology to competitors, has proved challenging historically.

Motorola has bet big on Android, using the software for all of its smartphones. It has already added security features aimed at enterprises to some of its Android phones.

While BlackBerry phones typically offer the most security features, Apple has worked to make its smartphones meet the basic security needs of enterprises. Many enterprises say that they would like to use Android phones but that the platform doesn't offer enough security features.

Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Twitter at @idgnancy. Nancy's e-mail address is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com