71% of employees spending more than two hours per week accessing work information via a smartphone or tablet. It’s been shown that mobile flexibility is great for productivity and communication, but what about security? Often mobile devices aren’t included in network system monitoring or cybersecurity strategies, yet they can often access the same data as a computer desktop or laptop. Here are a few mobile security statistics to illustrate how much of a risk these devices can pose to a company network:
1 in 4 mobile apps include at least one high-risk security flaw
Business apps are 3x more likely to leak login credentials than other apps
Each mobile device connects to about 160 unique IP addresses each day
43% of mobile users don’t lock their device with a PIN or passcode How can you take advantage of the benefits of mobile devices for work without having a big hole in your network security? Use a mobile device manager.
Security Benefits of a Mobile Device Management (MDM) Application
Using a mobile device manager can significantly improve your data security as well as make administering a BYOD (bring your own device) program much easier.
An MDM application can be downloaded onto all devices used to access your company applications and data and will basically section the “work” side of an employee’s mobile device away from the “personal” side, so there’s no intrusion on privacy while giving you control of the device’s access to your data.
Here are several reasons why an MDM will improve your data security.
1. Remote Access of Users
A mobile device manager allows you to more easily administer user access to your data and add or remove users at any time.
For example, if you have a disgruntled employee that quit abruptly and took their phone with them, using an MDM app would allow you to quickly login and remove their phone’s access to all your company applications. This puts the power in your hands when it comes to which devices are authorized to access business data.
2. Control Over Device Updates
A major cause of security breaches is due to operating systems and applications not having security patches or updates applied in a timely manner.
If there are multiple mobile devices that can access your business apps, without an MDM app it can be impossible to ensure all the updates are being applied properly and the device isn’t at risk of a hacker exploiting a vulnerability.
A mobile device manager can handle updates remotely and automatically from a central control point to help better secure devices.
3. Remote Lock and Wipe Devices86% of employees access their company email via their mobile device. Mobile devices are much more easily lost or stolen than a desktop computer, which means those corporate emails could end up in the wrong hands.
A mobile device management application gives you the ability to remotely lock lost or stolen devices or remotely wipe them of company data to help prevent data breaches or loss of sensitive information.
4. Easily Enforce Security Policies Do you use any data security policies for items like these below?
Identity management
Access limits
Blacklists
Authentication factors When you’re using an MDM app, you can ensure those policies are picked up and enforced across all mobile apps to both give your users a consistent login experience and ensure your data is being kept secure.