Security analysts at Symantec predict that 2015 will continue to bring an increase of new threats and exposure of vulnerabilities to mobile devices, tablets, PCs, and laptops. What does this mean for enterprise mobility? We dive into three timely concerns for any IT organization that manages and protects information on mobile devices.
Prediction #1: Mobile devices will become even more attractive targets
Mobile devices will continue to be a target for cyber attackers especially when mobile devices store up a trove of personal and confidential information and are left switched on all the time. A recent Norton Report states that the number of mobile threats that track users increased last year from 15 percent to 30 percent. In the past 12 months, 38% of mobile users have experienced cybercrime to some degree. Mobile devices will become even more valuable in 2015 as consumers and retailers adopt mobile payments, like Apple Pay and Google Wallet. For companies, confidential data including emails, customer information, and internal applications accessed on a mobile device are incredibly vulnerable if they are not well secured, especially on unmanaged devices. And leave no doubt that the executive officers are typically the first target for hackers.
Prediction #2: Privacy will continue to be sacrificed for mobile apps
Protecting corporate data in today’s mobile environment is a significant challenge for IT. Mobility introduces new risks in the enterprise such as employees adopting unapproved or cloud-based apps for work, corporate data leaking into unmanaged or cloud-based apps, unauthorized access to corporate data, and lost or stolen devices. Users continue to trade their privacy in exchange for mobile apps, purposefully or not. For example, many mobile users are reluctant to share banking and personally identifiable information, but are willing to share access to location, photos, and contact lists in exchange for free mobile apps. Many are simply tapping the “OK” button and not realizing the security risks to both personal and corporate data.
Prediction #3: Contextual-based policies will extend to mobile
No longer will simple device-based or even app-based policies be sufficient. Sophisticated companies will embrace contextual-based security for managing access to data on mobile devices. Similar to how online financial and healthcare accounts detect when you login from a new browser or require additional identity authentication when accessing the account for the first time, mobile devices will soon be treated with the same amount of rigor for corporate access. Factors to determine the level of access will go beyond simple passwords to include a “background check” on device hardware information, location data, biometric data (such as a fingerprint), and even user context, such as app activity and work hours.
Recommendations:
- Add threat protection to your EMM solution. With a threat protection solution, devices can be protected from malicious threats such as backdoors, mobile malware, grayware, malicious websites, and data stealing apps. Look for products that provide proactive protection like scanning and evaluating apps prior to download from app stores as well as blocking access to corporate resources based on app behavior..
- Look for app wrapping technology. App wrapping protects corporate apps and information by layering security and policy controls without compromising the user experience. Wrapped apps enable the end user by providing a clear separation of the enterprise and personal data on the device.
- Leverage contextual policies to assess and remediate against risk. A solution with a strong contextual policy engine enables admins to mitigate risk with a dynamic, policy-based approach. Leverage real-time assessments to enforce policy based on factors such as location, behavior, device, apps, etc.
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