Enterprises have been adding levels of protection to their endpoints for years. There is actually a long list of acronyms to describe the many agents deployed on the modern PC such as EPP, EDR/XDR, DLP, and ZTNA. But when we turn to mobile devices, it’s disheartening to see that barely half of organizations are using unified endpoint management (UEM) for their mobile devices. And usage of security functions like mobile threat defense or data rights management is even lower than UEM. It’s like locking the front door and leaving the side door wide open.
So what makes mobile devices so special that security teams feel they don’t need that security? There are some unique separations between OS and user functions within mobile devices, but that doesn’t mean that these devices don’t deserve the same levels of protection that are implemented on other enterprise endpoints. With increasingly common bring your own device (BYOD) usage with mobile devices, it’s important to utilize security solutions to ensure that business applications and data are protected from personal apps, especially now that some mobile apps may be using artificial intelligence (AI) to collect data to enhance that application’s functionalities, which could include possibly siphoning off sensitive information.
Like many security concerns, there are many questions that have to be answered. For example, how are you enabling secure data access from mobile devices? Are you using mobile apps available in the public application stores? Are you developing your own mobile apps? How are you managing access to email, documents, presentations, and other corporate data? What are you doing to protect employees and data when on public WiFi or on their home network? Are you still routing your business apps through a VPN from the mobile device that can now expose your corporate network to a device that has another network connection through the cellular network?
You should also consider how AI is being used on mobile devices. While Apple will soon be introducing their own AI solution, the Android world already has AI solutions from Google, Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, and others. This doesn’t even include all the AI functions that are being used in mobile applications. Where is that data going and how is AI being used on the defensive side to help you protect your organization and close the gap between Mean-Time-To-Detect and Mean-Time-To-Resolution.
If you’re looking for answers to these questions, be sure to check out Forrester’s Security & Risk Summit being held in Baltimore December 9-11. My session, “Leverage Zero Trust and AI to Enhance Mobile Security” will discuss topics like:
- Why mobile devices require advanced protection
- How to apply Zero Trust policies to mobile devices
- How AI can better protect the enterprise through mobile device access.
The session is part of a broader track on prevention, detection, and response topics so be sure to check out the agenda to learn more. We look forward to seeing you in Baltimore and helping you better protect that mobile side door.
