More and more organizations are allowing their staff to rely on portable smart devices in order to conduct official business. With 24-hour, on-the-spot access to key information and business tools, portable devices offer astounding amounts of flexibility and convenience — enabling employers to access their organization from anywhere. That said, the question must be asked, is enough being done to ensure mobile device security?
In this post, we will outline 5 tips to consider regarding corporate mobile use.
Updating Mobile Device Security Policies
Whether an organization writes their own security policies or if they outsource their IT services to third-party, corporate leaders need to make sure their written security policies address specific issues regarding mobile use. Not only does this force companies to sit down and seriously consider all the ramifications of mobile data access, but it also lets staff members know that IT security policies are not just “office-only” policies to follow.
Protect What’s Really Important
By updating corporate security policies, it becomes obvious that what businesses are really protecting is the data that employees might access. No one is going to write up a security policy regarding the potential loss of a mobile device that cost a few hundred dollars. From the top down, everyone needs to clearly understand that following mobile usage policies is about data, not simple device breakage.
Mobile Device Security
There is security software specifically available for mobile devices. Companies must ensure that any mobile device their employees use, whether company or personally owned, has professional security software installed and updated regularly.
Scrambling the Data
Along with mobile security, there are also mechanisms available that will scramble, or encrypt, phone data such as contact lists, emails, text messages, etc. Companies should check with those handling their IT operations to ensure encryption software is installed on all corporate mobile devices.
Consider Bluetooth Access
Many people don’t spend nearly enough time thinking about what it really means to have Bluetooth-enabled devices. They don’t know that:
- Most new devices come with Bluetooth enabled
- Anyone nearby could potentially connect to their mobile device
- Whether using Bluetooth for personal or business reasons, if it’s on, it’s on.
Bluetooth can be a very useful feature that allows one to take hands-free calls, texts, etc. but it is also very difficult to remember to manually turn it off when not in use. Companies need to seriously consider whether to allow their employees to use Bluetooth at all or at least use security software that addresses Bluetooth use.
If you would like to know more about developing comprehensive security policies regarding employee mobile usage, please contact us.
No comment yet, add your voice below!