Mobile devices are rapidly entering the business world and providing employees with a unique opportunity to enhance productivity and efficiency. However, these gadgets are also becoming common targets for malicious outsiders and hackers, as the tools are often less protected than traditional platforms that access corporate networks.
As a result, decision-makers need to implement strong data security practices that reduce vulnerabilities in the mobile environment. In the advent of BYOD (bring your own device), chief information officers should enforce the use of strong passwords that enable access to sensitive records, according to a Data Center Journal report. These logins should be complex, containing a variety of characters, without using any guessable dates, numeric patterns or phrases.
IT departments should also have the ability to remotely wipe any device with access to corporate resources that gets lost, stolen or compromised in some other way. Gadgets should also be automatically wiped after a certain number of failed attempts to log in to the device or network, Data Center Journal asserted. As a result, attackers will only have a limited number of opportunities to gain entry to mission-critical environments, reducing the chances of a data breach.
Encryption is an important part of data protection and should not be forgotten when mobile gadgets are introduced to the workplace. Many portable electronics have the ability to utilize encryption technologies without disrupting operations, forcing individuals to input the correct keys to access the sensitive data hidden within the cryptic architectures, Data Center Journal said.
According to a recent mobile security study by SANS, while 60 percent of organizations allow individuals to bring their own devices to work to perform business-related tasks, only 9 percent of IT departments are fully aware of all the tools accessing the network.
"The survey results proved what we have suspected all along – organizations are not prepared for the proliferation of mobile devices across the enterprise," Bradford Network chief marketing officer Tom Murphy said in response to the SANS survey. "Businesses need to balance the productivity gains of BYOD with the very real concerns around protecting sensitive data. This starts by gaining visibility into all the devices that are accessing the network."
Unobstructed visibility is imperative for companies to improve data privacy capabilities and eliminate the outsider's ability to gain entry to sensitive networks. This is especially important with the advent of mobile strategies and an increasing number of users accessing corporate resources in a variety of ways.
Consumerization News from SimplySecurity.com by Trend Micro
