Why mobile working represents one of the biggest security threats to your organisation
Everywhere you look, you are surrounded by what we call the Everywhere Generation, people busy on conference calls, typing into spreadsheets, writing presentations, arranging meetings. Enabled by the presence of WiFi just about everywhere, 3/4G mobile access and a multitude of smartphones, tablets, phablets and mobiles, the office has long since escaped the confines of a physical building.
This is hardly news. But there’s a downside — and it could be a big one. Security.
All those smart devices can be a real boon for productivity, givingaccess to the applications, connectivity and information they need, when and where they need it. But at the same time they leave you potentially vulnerable to security breaches every time that a new app is downloaded. And given that, by 2017, there will be an estimated 268 billion mobile app downloads1, that’s a lot of risk. Without any control over the app’s operation how can you tell what it’s accessing within your corporate network and what’s happening with the data or connections it’s establishing?
A Gartner report1 issued towards the end of 2014 predicted that 75 per cent of mobile security breaches through 2017 will be caused by mobile application misconfigurations, ‘rather than the outcome of deeply technical attacks on mobile devices.’ It’s a thought-provoking insight.
Whilst it’s almost impossible, in fact undesirable, to resist the drive towards greater mobile working, it’s essential to have the right policies and safeguards in place to both support your employees whilst also protecting your data, which might include sensitive third party information such as customer details.
Principal research analyst at Gartner1, Dionisio Zumerle, sheds further, worrying, light on the matter, “Enterprises that embrace mobile computing and bring your own device strategies are vulnerable to security breaches unless they adopt methods and technologies for mobile application security testing and risk assurance”.
Logicalis has partnered with Cisco and Citrix to develop end-to-end mobility solutions that give your employees access to the tools and data they need to work securely and efficiently, wherever they are.
Our cloud based infrastructure, device agnostic applications and virtual workspace give your employees the freedom they need. Our encryption services, give you the security you demand. And our Managed Services Team and 24×7 support give you the performance you expect.
So ask yourself, “Who’s looking at my data?”
1Gartner. ‘Predicts 2014: Apps, Personal Cloud and Data Analytics Will Drive New Consumer Interactions.’ Stephanie Baghdassarian, Brian Blau, Jessica Ekholm, Sandy Shen. November 22, 2013.
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