Latin America. Safeguarding private information, both personal and business, that is stored on mobile devices is a priority for companies that see how every day the number of workers who manipulate sensitive company information with these equipment increases.
To delve into these types of threats and strategies to protect information, we have the statements of Scott Emo, head of endpoint product marketing at Check Point Software Technologies.
Emo first stressed that "increased employee productivity and mobility are the main benefits for organizations that allow these devices in the workplace but these benefits come with their own set of risks."
The expert explained that threats can derive from three fundamental aspects: On the one hand, the mobile operating system, since each system comes with its own set of security challenges, in addition, the threats can originate from mobile applications, the mobile browser, and the insecure use of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi hotspots.
The employees themselves are a challenge, as "the lack of security awareness among employees is often the primary factor impacting mobile data security. Many employees are simply not informed about the mobile security risks and corporate policies associated with mobile devices such as saving corporate data, customer information, or accessing business applications."
Finally, the use of personal mobile devices raises significant concerns about the privacy of sensitive data stored on these devices that the IT department must handle.
Emo's suggestion for addressing these challenges is to reinforce the company's best practices and corporate policies on this issue.
"The policy should include a list of approved devices that can access corporate data, the type of information that can be stored on mobile devices and removed from the corporate environment, what types of mobile applications can be downloaded, procedure for the theft or loss of a device, a routine for updating operating system patches, require mobile keys as well as having the ability to erase data from a stolen or lost device."
