Managing Security Risks

There are many benefits of enterprise mobility; however, security risks can be a cause for major concern. According to IDC, over 50% of large organizations will invest in enhanced enterprise mobility management (EMM) capabilities to secure apps and data in 2015. Developing a culture of trust and security is imperative for mobility to flourish. Mobile security concerns range from device theft to data loss, data encryption to password hack, forcing organizations to manage risks and protect their data. Enterprises need to develop end-to-end mobile security across devices, apps, networks and data to effectively manage and mitigate the present security risks of enterprise mobility solutions.

• Device Thefts: As devices can be easily stolen or lost, data on mobile devices is extremely vulnerable to attack. Organizations need to build robust security systems that include password protection, data encryption, secure data transfer, and anti-virus protection. Implementing remote wipe technology allows IT administrators to lock the lost device or delete all data from a misplaced device, ensuring data protection.
• Heterogeneous Environment: As a large number of users are accessing enterprise data from various networks using an assortment of devices, there is an urgent need to centrally manage those devices and enforce role-based security policies.
• Anytime, Anywhere Connectivity: Mobility enables people to connect to the enterprise network from anywhere and at any time, increasing the risk of data breach. Data transfer between the device and enterprise should be encrypted, through a VPN tunnel or over HTTPS.
• Devious Users: With users becoming more and more tech savvy, there is a possibility of employees trying to jailbreak the device in order to gain higher privileges and access to critical enterprise data. To curb this, enterprises need to continuously monitor device compliance and block compromised devices from accessing business critical data.
• Bring Your Own Device (BYOD): With enterprises across the world supporting BYOD, mobile devices are being used for both personal and professional purposes, increasing the risk of security breaches and data loss. To ensure safety and security of business critical data, enterprises need to implement app-level security policies for encryption and authentication.
• Unsafe Apps: With millions of apps available in app stores today, there is a high risk of low or no security in some apps. Such apps are vulnerable to being hacked, thus compromising the data stored within them. Enterprises need to ensure that the mobile devices are secure by incorporating mobile threat protection techniques that proactively detect and block malware and risky apps. By blacklisting such apps, enterprises can prevent users from accessing or downloading malicious apps.

Conclusion

While enterprise mobility offers a sea of opportunities for users and enterprises, there are also associated risks that need to be mitigated. Understanding the inherent risks of enterprise mobility solutions and developing strategies to monitor, protect, and control mobile devices is the cornerstone of enterprise mobility success.