There is no doubt that 2014 was the worst year so far for data security with a 78% increase in the number in stolen or lost records compared to 2013[1]. With this in mind there’s no surprise that information security is the number one priority for businesses this year. So, with 32 records lost or stolen every second of last year[2], how can we ensure 2015 is a successful year for mobile data security?
Businesses are relying on mobile devices now more than ever before and there is no sign of a decline with mobility bringing benefits to business such as improved employee job satisfaction, higher productivity and flexibility, but these benefits are all insignificant if security isn’t taken seriously with the ICO dishing out penalties up to £500,000 when enough isn’t done to prevent data loss[3]. Sony were fined £250,000 in April 2011[4] when customers personal information appeared online after hackers attacked the company’s database but, a hefty fine may be the least of your worries with companies experiencing loss of sales because of a damaged reputation and, with some losing data critical to business, many businesses don’t survive loss of information, even if security stops business only for a few hours.
BYOD (bring your own device) saves money for companies from initial price to on-going support but, according to Dell, 50% of its customers who adopt a bring your own device’ policy have encountered a security breach[5], so is the initial saving worth the risk in the long term? Even when the device is owned by an employee, the organisation is still responsible for all business information accessed on it, so without the correct security measures being taken, the company is still at risk and, when the best precautions are taken, there may be restrictions to personal apps and therefore it may not feel like the employee’s own device anymore with many features taken away for security reasons.
I, myself, am guilty of only being aware how secure mobile banking and payment apps, such as PayPal, really are and not second glancing at games and other apps. And, even then, my thoughts are only as farfetched as login details and password or PIN protection but not really as to how these companies, whose business runs on consumer’s sensitive information, keep our information, and money, secure. So, how about other apps, from largely unknown sources, that we download without a second thought as to how they may be malicious or contain a hidden virus? Hacking may very well go unnoticed for a long period of time and even once it has been noticed the motive may be unclear. On a personal level, they may only be able to access data stored on your device such as contacts, photos, emails etc., not life changing, but on a work device the data they can access may be hugely important.
This is where MDM (mobile device management) and MAM (media asset management) step in. They allow remote access as well as high security and black, or white, listing apps. This means the company can stay in control of their security whilst giving the user all the benefits of mobile working. This mobile data security does come at a price, but compared to the cost of a large ICO fine and the business loss that a security breach can cause, it’s a small price to pay and, the monitoring options available on many MDM software’s can raise the alert before the user has any idea their device has been effected.
If the last few years are anything to go by, technology will still continue to advance at an exponential rate and businesses adopting a CYOD (choose your own device) policy can ensure technology is bought in at a rate comfortable for the business and stop employees introducing new technology before its security has been vetted. Apple’s new handset has a fingerprint scanning feature used to unlock the device, a feature they plan on using for security when purchasing amongst other things. Consumer IT is one of the main fuels for businesses but organisations need to keep in mind how secure these new, innovative features are before they introduce them into their workplace, however beneficial they may initially seem.
Cisco’s Visual Networking Index predict annual global data traffic will have increased by 873% between 2014 and 2019[6], a prediction which seems very reasonable considering how much of an impact mobile data has made so far. And, with enterprise mobility becoming more popular due to the amount of benefits it can have for companies, mobile data security has never been more vital to business.
You may find our enterprise mobility report an interesting read:
ENTERPRISE MOBILE DATA – SECURITY AND USAGE REPORT
Contact us to see how we can help secure your mobile data
[1] http://data-protection.safenet-inc.com/2015/02/2014-data-breaches-by-the-numbers-and-the-impact/
[2] http://data-protection.safenet-inc.com/2015/02/2014-data-breaches-by-the-numbers-and-the-impact/
[3] https://ico.org.uk/media/about-the-ico/documents/1042346/review-of-the-impact-of-ico-civil-monetary-penalties.pdf
[4] http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jan/24/sony-fined-over-playstation-hack
[5] http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2013/march/half-of-firms-with-byod-policies-have-suffered-a-security-breach-dell-claims/
[6] http://telecoms.com/396142/mobile-data-traffic-to-increase-ten-fold-by-2019-report/
