The contemporary workplace has evolved in a spectacular way during the last 10 years. The times when employees were stuck into the desktop computers under the office walls are over. The current workforce functions in a mobile first space where smart phones and tablets are now basic business tools. This phenomenon has transformed the way we work, correspond, and obtain important data on the company. This newfound freedom, however, inevitably poses a huge risk to many organizations which are yet to get over mobile security threats. Mobile devices have become a platform of entry into the company network, where vital customer or business secrets, financial information, and company business intelligence reside. Each one of the emails, documents, and applications that someone accesses using these devices is a possible gateway to hackers. Organizations must implement comprehensive mobile threat defense strategies to protect against these evolving security challenges.
The Rising Tide of Mobile Threats
Threats to mobile devices are no longer just simple malware but are complex and multi-layered to be able to bypass even the traditional security means with relative ease. Cybercriminals today have turned their attention towards mobile systems since they are the route of least resistance into corporate systems. Such threats are in different forms and are all rigged to be able to expose certain weaknesses in the mobile operating systems and apps. Malicious applications have also been on the rise on official and unofficial app stores, pretending to be licensed software. Such programs may demand impractically high privileges to handle personal data, track actions of individuals, and even regulate operations of gadgets even on the other end of the planet.
Understanding Mobile Device Vulnerabilities
Mobile devices due to their peculiar security issues separate them as different to the traditional computing platforms. On the one hand, the basic design of smartphones and tablets generates built-in weaknesses which are being actively targeted by cybercriminals. “The operation system fragmentation especially in the Android ecosystem implies that a significant percentage of the devices take advantage of old software with discovered security vulnerabilities that can never be patched. Another major weakness here is the app ecosystem. Mobile apps are larger than they used to be, and as such, usually require significant permissions when they are installed, which the user will accept at face value.
The Enterprise Data Dilemma
The difference between personal and professional has become highly erased during the mobile age. Employees work regularly on their own devices which is a complex network of ownership and safeguarding duties of the data involved. The so-called Bring Your Own device (BYOD) phenomenon has therefore posed unprecedented difficulties to the enterprise security team. Corporate information is today spread out on an infinite number of personal devices, usually in ways that are out of the view and control of IT functions. Cloud collaboration, email, and storage tools make sensitive data available across devices everywhere without user input and keep the data in sync on a wide device platform and on multiple strategies. This decentralized information model results in extremely difficult methods to preserve the conventional security perimeters and control measures.
Network Security Challenges in Mobile Environments
In the traditional network security models, it is assumed that users get access to corporate resources through secure environments where the level of security is well defined. The use of mobile devices breaks this presumption since mobile devices can connect to corporate networks at any point on the planet using a range of connection technologies each with their own set of security issues. One of the greatest threats to mobile security is the public Wi-Fi networks. Such networks can be very insecure or have poor versions of the encryption protocols at their disposal which are easily broken. It happens regularly that cybercriminals set up the so-called fake Wi-Fi spots in busy places, which will be capable of scooping all traffic that passes through them. Mobile devices tend to automatically attach themselves to these malicious networks that leave all the transmitted data to interception and manipulation.
The Human Factor: Employee Behavior and Risk
The human is like a weak spot in mobile security despite all the technical levels of security. Convenience is more preferable to a security in the mind of the employees and they make decisions without realizing that they are putting their organizations into great danger. These behavior styles are the critical styles to be understood and managed to come up with an effective mobile threat defense. Often people download apps without even reading permissions, and even without thinking about security. Software that might be malicious may be installed because the need to be productive and be entertained comes first before security.
Compliance and Regulatory Pressures
Companies in all sectors are experiencing more pressure to defend sensitive data, and mobile devices are an important regulatory challenge. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), etc. all include some requirements that apply to mobile device network and security. All personal data accessed with the use of mobile devices falls under GDPR data protection requirements, as even such information is processed by the organization.
Cost of Mobile Security Breaches
The monetary implications of mobile security breaches are much more than both the direct expenditure on responding to incidents and instrumentation of the breaches. Direct and indirect costs of organizations have an intricate knot of costs, which lasts years after the incident of breach. These costs are important to appreciate why it is worth the investment on complete mobile threat defense strategies. Direct costs are forensic investigation, attorneys fees, regulatory fines and notification costs. But these direct costs are usually just a tip of the iceberg of an actual cost of mobile security breach. There is a significant cost of business disruption, especially in cases when there is a breach of important business processes or those crucial services offered to customers.
Conclusion
The mobile revolution has transformed the way organizations are run and unprecedented opportunities have been given to maximize their growth and innovativeness. Nonetheless, with this change also comes the issue of substantial security concerns which cannot be solved using traditional methods. Mobile threat defense is becoming a not-so-optional feature that is required of every organization that is seriously committed to protecting its digital assets and retaining competitive edge. Solutions like doverunner are leading the way in providing comprehensive mobile security frameworks for modern enterprises.