Mobile security is the topmost concern among the organizations today, thanks to mobility and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Most employees now routinely access corporate data from smartphones and tactfully keep sensitive information away from wrong hands. Now the truth is mobile malware are spreading like an epidemic with all odds are significantly struck on the operating systems.
The more realistic and practical mobile security breaches happen in few common circumstances, all of which are expected to appear more in the coming year:
Data Theft
Data theft is observed as one of the most worrisome threats to enterprise security as we step into 2018. What makes the issue more annoying is that it not always destructive by nature; rather, the users’ casual approach makes them lose their valuable data beyond recovery.
For this, data loss prevention (DLP) tool of mobile security software is the most effective form of protection. These are designed explicitly to prevent the exposure of confidential data, including accidental scenarios.
Social engineering cons
Social engineering cons are astonishingly effective on the mobile front as well on the desktops. A staggering 90% of data breaches happen due to phishing, according to 2017 Data Breach Investigation Report. While just 7% users fall for phishing attempts, it seems that they tend to be repeat offenders. It is also estimated that the typical victims, who are successfully phished, 15% of them will be phished again within 2018.
Interference of Unsafe Wi-Fi
Mobile device security is dependent on the network through the data is transferred. We are in an age when we frequently connect our devices to public Wi-Fi networks, which sores the chances of our information compromised the way more what we assume.
According to the latest research, corporate mobile devices use Wi-Fi thrice comparing to cellular data. Almost a quarter of devices get connected to open and potentially insecure Wi-Fi networks and 4% of them have encountered a man-in-the-middle attack recently and is expected to continue as well.
Out-of-date devices
Smartphones, tablets and other devices are commonly known as the Internet of things (IoT) threaten a new risk to enterprise security. Different from traditional devices, these devices don’t come guaranteed security tools and updates. This is more applicable on the Android front, where the majority of manufacturers are ineffective at keeping the products up to date with operating system (OS) updates. Again, a strong policy with official updates can keep the breach possibilities at bay.
Physical device breaches
Lastly, physical device breach remains a disturbingly realistic threat. A stolen or unattended device can be another major reason for security risk, due to weak passwords/ PIN and full data encryption. If security software is installed, the stolen device can be remotely controlled and save the device data.
