Tag: mobile security policies

Mobile security concerns stem primarily from apps

| May 15, 2014

Businesses that have bring your own device (BYOD) programs must protect themselves against this risk.

The mobile security risk that is created by the use of tablets and smartphones in businesses as a result of the use of third party apps has experienced a “monumental increase” according to the results of a recently published report.

What it showed as that these concerns have been steadily and considerably growing.

This is the case, said the report, even in the activation of enterprise apps that have greater mobile security complexity, particularly in terms of secure browsing. This information was published within the Q1 2014 Mobile Index Report that was issued by Good Technology. It also revealed that organizations are actually trying to take back control over their risks by leveraging enterprise apps that do provide greater protection.

The data for this mobile security report is gleaned from the activation tracking done by Good Technology.

That company has tracked activations over mobile devices and platforms and then leveraged its findings from over 5000 of its customers around the world. Within the report, it was explained that companies have called IT their leading concern for this year. Moreover, there has been a considerable 57 percent growth rate (quarter over quarter) in the activations of secure enterprise apps. This is an increase over 54 percent in the previous quarter and 43 percent in the one before that.Mobile Security and Apps

It was also underscored by Good Technology that these are “not surprising” results. The Ponemon Institute published the 2014 State of Endpoint Risk report which also placed the spotlight on risks connected with the use of mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. It identified third party apps as the leading risk faced by business IT departments.

The Good Mobility Index Report indicated that the total number of activations of browsing apps with heightened mobile security throughout the customer base of Good Technology saw an unbelievable 2900 percent increase during this quarter. This brought it to the app category that is fifth most activated. In previous quarters, it hadn’t even made it into the top ten most activated lists.

Mobile security policies in place at only 14 percent of businesses

| August 29, 2013

The majority of companies have not fully implemented a policy for the use of wireless devices.

According to the results of a study that have recently been released, only 14 percent of companies have put a fully developed mobile security policy into place for their computer networks.

At the same time, the number of threats and incidents within that environment are rapidly rising.

Furthermore, the study also discovered that the majority of the companies that do not have mobile security policies in place also have no intention of limiting the use of personal smartphones and tablets for work-related purposes. The research in question was the Global Corporate IT Security Risks 2013 study From B2B International, which was conducted among businesses worldwide, this spring, in collaboration with Kaspersky Lab.

B2B International’s statement about the mobile security study was that many companies had experienced data leaks.

Mobile Security policiesIt revealed that among the respondents of the survey by B2B International, 6 percent of the companies had experienced a mobile security data leakage of confidential information at least once within the previous 12 months. Though this may represent an increase of only 1 percent over the figures from 2012, the attacks on smartphones and tablets led to a larger number of critical data leaks than any of employee fraud (at 4 percent), phishing attacks (at 5 percent) or corporate espionage (at 3 percent).

According to the release regarding the study’s results, “The reason is obvious; more mobile devices – smartphones and tablets – are being used at work on a daily basis. These devices are also often owned by the employees themselves, and so are used for personal as well as business purposes.”

It also pointed out that while the ability to add both corporate and personal data (such as apps and contact lists) on a single device is highly convenient, it also means that there is a considerably higher mobile security risk to the business. Almost 65 percent of the participants in the survey admitted that they allowed their workers to bring their own devices (also known as bring your own device – BYOD – where workers use their own personal smartphones and tablets for work purposes). This is clearly a growing threat to corporate IT infrastructure security when the fact that no protection policies have been put in place.