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Businesses Need Help Securing Mobile Devices, Data

 
 
By Gina Roos
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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    1 - Businesses Need Help Securing Mobile Devices, Data
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    Businesses Need Help Securing Mobile Devices, Data

    Less than 25 percent of IT and security pros have adequate policies or controls in place for mobile media; 25 percent have no controls in place.
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    2 - Risky Behavior
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    Risky Behavior

    30% of employees access corporate resources and applications from unmanaged PCs, resulting in high risks for malware, key logging and other security issues.
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    3 - More Bad Behavior
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    More Bad Behavior

    11% of respondents said all mobile workers in their organizations used personal (unmanaged) laptops to do their jobs outside the office, and more than 33% said more than 40% of their workers used an unmanaged personal laptop to access business data and applications.
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    4 - Mobile Media Troubles
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    Mobile Media Troubles

    32% of respondents said none of their mobile media devices (such as USBs) were managed by IT. Only 21% said they were fully managed.
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    5 - Lack of Encryption
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    Lack of Encryption

    In addition, only 13% of organizations with more than 10,000 employees, and 7% with 500 to 10,000 workers encrypt data on their USB devices.
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    6 - Cloud Adoption
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    Cloud Adoption

    24% of respondents said they use cloud services because of mobile security concerns.
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    7 - Windows to Go
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    Windows to Go

    44% of respondents are not familiar with Windows to Go, which can securely replicate the desktop environment on a mobile workspace.
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    8 - Lack of Control
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    Lack of Control

    16% of respondents said none of the smartphones used by mobile workers were managed by IT, while 16% said 25% of their smartphones had oversight. Similarly, 20% said they managed zero tablets, and 12% said they managed up to 25% of tablets.
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    9 - Securing Mobile Access
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    Securing Mobile Access

    More than 25% of respondents use VPNs to control access, and more than 20% implemented role-based access controls.
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    10 - Security Priority
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    Security Priority

    Nearly 32% said endpoint data protection is critical to IT managers; 26% said it is of extremely high importance; and another 26% said it is of high importance.
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    11 - Data Security Tools
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    Data Security Tools

    Only 25% of respondents use data loss prevention (DLP) at the endpoints to protect against corporate data loss, while more than 64% require periodic password changes by mobile device users.
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    12 - Security Policies
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    Security Policies

    57% of organizations have easily accessible security policies, and 52% maintain communication with workers to reinforce policies around remote access to enterprise data and applications.
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    13 - Lack of Insight
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    Lack of Insight

    While only 40% of respondents said their organizations experienced an incident, 32% said they didn't know of any.
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    14 - Biggest Mobile Risks
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    Biggest Mobile Risks

    16% of respondents said the greatest exposure to risk on mobile devices is accessing sensitive info on public WiFi, followed by malware introduced by unmanaged devices (14%), and loss or theft of mobile devices containing corporate data (12%).
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    15 - Enterprise Mobility Challenges
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    Enterprise Mobility Challenges

    77% of respondents said laptop configuration is the most resource-intensive task, followed by updating devices (65%) and dealing with lost, stolen or damaged mobile devices (47%).
 

As more mobile devices have greater access to corporate data and applications, businesses need to implement policies to secure and manage these devices. More than 64 percent of IT and security professionals said the majority of their mobile workforces can access their organizations' secure data remotely, but less than 25 percent have adequate policies or controls in place for mobile media, and another 25 percent don't have any controls in place, according to a recent survey conducted by SANS Institute. The survey, sponsored by IronKey by Imation, also reveals that many organizations are open to data exposure. Nearly one-third of mobile BYOD—unmanaged PCs, laptops, smartphones and tablets—are used to access corporate data, and when combined with a lack of controls, organizations are vulnerable to breaches and theft. The challenge will only intensify, with more than 32 percent of organizations expecting at least 60 percent of their workforce to be mobile in the next 12 months. Here's why mobile security service providers can play a big role in helping businesses gain control over their mobile device use. 

 
This article was originally published on 2015-05-26