Mobile technology has fundamentally changed the way day to day business is carried out – of this there is little doubt. No longer is business restricted to the place of work or normal working hours. Conference calls can be made from almost anywhere, emails can be sent and received, and files can be shared with anyone in the world with the touch of a thumb.
However, with this new(ish) technology comes new concerns for IT professionals. The portable nature of smartphones and tablets makes them prime targets for loss or theft and the increasing reliance on WI-FI hotspots makes data interception a real possibility. This is compounded by the fact that many people use their personal devices for work purposes, which are much harder for IT teams to monitor and control.
In the past the biggest concern was that a laptop may be stolen and hacked for the data contained within, however all of that changed with the advent of mobile technology. So, with that in mind let’s look at the ways in which mobile technology has impacted data security.
Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD)
Employees using their own devices for work purposes poses many challenges for IT personnel. The biggest of these is making sure that corporate information remains secure.
Wit
h personal devices it is very difficult for IT staff to track and control access to corporate and private networks as employees use their devices for both business and personal tasks. This is compounded by the fact that it is impossible to monitor and control the applications that people have installed on their own devices. Malware is rife in mobile applications and this raises massive concerns for the security of corporate data.
In fact, most IT professionals agree that careless employees pose a greater threat to corporate security than cybercriminals.
Another issue is that, in order to keep business running smoothly, IT staff need to make sure that all of the relevant software is kept updated. However, it can be incredibly difficult to do this when people have a multitude of devices that are often changed or upgraded on a regular basis.
This is especially true for smaller businesses, many of which have no active policy for managing corporate data on personal devices.
High Cost of Failure
It is almost an inevitability these days that, once companies have implemented mobile devices, security incidents will happen. And when they do, the costs can be significant with the price of a breach ranging from between $10,000 and $500,000. Whilst this may seem like a high price it makes sense when you consider the staff hours that need to be designated to resolving the issue, along with legal fees, fines and other resolution processes. Rather unsurprisingly, this cost rises with the size of the company.
File Sharing
With mobile technology has come the adoption of file sharing sites to allow for easy and rapid distribution of material. Whilst some companies do limit access to sites such as DropBox or Google Drive, it is rare for these policies to be enforced strictly.
Obviously not knowing exactly where and when files are being shared online poses concern for those involved in data security. Whilst in-house file sharing methods can be closely monitored
, the same is not true for external sites. With data being spread across multiple sites it becomes nearly impossible for IT staff to keep track of where everything is located and they obviously cannot vouch for the security of external sites and applications.
Comparing Mobile Platforms
Android mobile systems are by far the most popular of devices, but they are also by far the least trustworthy when it comes to data security. This is mainly because Android has a much more open marketplace with a far laxer policy to vetting apps that are made available therein.
Also Android allows for the installation of non-marketplace apps, which is where the greatest threat from malware comes. Many Android users know to make sure that they have anti-virus software installed on their devices, just as they would their PC – but a large proportion still view their smartphones as phones and not computers (which is what they clearly are).
Apple, Windows Mobile and Blackberry devices are far more trusted when it comes to security for the same reasons that Android are not. The more closed nature of their marketplaces and more rigorous vetting process keeps the bad apps away. Combine this with the fact that they don’t allow installation of non-marketplace applications, makes them a far less stressful option for businesses.
In Conclusion
While mobile devices clearly have much to offer businesses in terms of convenience and productivity, they have also created new and complex security concerns for those that use them. As the technology develops and we become more familiar with them, security will undoubtedly become more sophisticated alongside them.
Does your business use mobile devices and does it allow BYOD? Please let us know of any security concerns that you have that we have not mentioned.
Have fun.
Kerry Butters
Kerry is a published author and writer on all things tech, corporate tech, data centres, SEO, webdesign & more for some of the world’s leading sites.