Cognos Mobile application security

A security code can be used to restrict access to the IBM® Cognos® Mobile app for users of iOS and Android devices.

The Cognos administrator can specify that a mobile device user must enter a security code to access the IBM Cognos Mobile app, and the amount of time that the Mobile app can remain inactive before the user must reenter the code to use the app. This functionality is controlled by the Security code session timeout configuration setting.

If the value of this setting indicates that the user needs a security code, this value also represents the number of seconds that the Mobile app can remain inactive before the user is prompted to reenter the security code to access the Mobile app.

In addition to this setting, there is also a default timeout value that is included with the Mobile native apps. The value that you specify for the server setting overrides the default value in the app.

The users can turn off the server setting on their mobile devices, but they cannot change its value. If the setting is off, but the server setting requires the user to use a security code, the next time the user tries to run the app, he or she needs to re-authenticate with the server and is prompted to create a security code. Without this code, the users cannot see any local content.

The Cognos administrator can also set a limit on the number of failed attempts to enter the security code when logging on to the Cognos Mobile apps. This is controlled by the Maximum number of attempts to enter a security code when accessing the IBM Cognos Mobile application configuration setting. If the user exceeds the maximum number of attempts, all Cognos content on their mobile devices is destroyed. If the user needs a PIN to access the server, the number of retries specified by the server overrides the retry value on the mobile device.

For more information, see the security settings in Cognos Mobile service configuration settings.