When was the last time you used your mobile phone for work? May be this morning to check emails and calendar, or you checked your phone while parking your car and walking to the office. Or may be a minute ago, during a meeting to access a document shared with you by a colleague?

Whatever the scenario may be, you cannot deny how mobility has dethroned conventional modes of business interactions with technology, people and processes. Mobility is rapidly changing our relationship with work, at the same time, it is exposing enterprises that allow employees to work using mobile devices to several security risks.

According to Cisco’s 2016 Annual Security Report, 65% of survey respondents are facing noteworthy security risks, with 50% ranking mobility at the top for security breach.

With the growing footprint of mobile in enterprises, traditional security tools are staring at ignominy. You may have beefed up your enterprise mobile security with a single solution, or protected few portions, or adopted a layered approach to mobile security: for example, protecting the data layer with encryption, apps with containers, and devices with mobile device management, but you cannot ignore these seven must-have security measures for your enterprise.

Data Encryption

If data encryption is a part of your enterprise mobile strategy – that is if all corporate data is saved separately within a device’s workspace controlled by the IT department, then the IT department can effectively manage the entire encryption process, eliminating hassles for users; thus empowering your enterprise to secure date even when a device is stolen and does not have a password.

If the workspace is secured, as soon the user uses an app outside the workspace, the encrypted applications lock automatically.

Control and secure remote access

Securing remote access and controlling the flow of data restricts data abuse while working in remote and public environments. Securing remote allows a private connection between the corporate network and mobile devices that is encrypted, thus making the information exchange over the connection uninterpretable by hackers. It is also important to ensure that the data exchange remains safe in all scenarios – within the corporate environment, while working from a public Wi-Fi hotspot or from a home network.

Remote data wipe

Inclusion of the capability to remotely wipe data from devices arms IT department to control the data on devices and erase if any data breach is reported. IT department can wipe the data in the workspace or also they may wipe the entire data.

Identify and access management (IAM)

IAM helps IT to gain visibility on the device using the network, who is the user, and location of the device. It then allows data access to specific services based on the user’s role and approved access rights.

A unified approach to data access and applications include access control policy, single sign on (SSO) and seclusion of duties. On the other hand, a comprehensive approach includes both; traditional on-premise access and mobility.

Compliance reporting

Compliance reporting enables IT to gain access to everything within the mobile security environment that includes: devices, users, applications, access rights and more. Having this ability allows IT to keep many problems at bay, and identify problems well before they create havoc. For example, if a new security threat is announced for a particular browser, IT can ambush devices that need to be protected and secure them.

Data Leak Protection (DLP)

DLP helps to restrict unauthorized share, access, add, edit or delete rights to users from the mobile device. For example, DLP may allow a user to access an excel sheet on any authorized application on device, but it restricts it to just viewing and not sharing, editing or saving to any untrusted mobile application on cloud.

Policy management

Having policies in place ensures long-term security that helps define users’ roles, what devices they prefer using, what applications and data they can access, and under what privileges and conditions. A robust policy management strategy enables IT to control access, applications, PINs, passwords, devices, etc., easily.

Enterprise mobility is a large ecosystem where security is always at high risk. It is important to understand that not all security strategies fits all, and it is not necessary what others may have implemented would fit your requirements as well. It is also important to involve stakeholders from other departments (human resources, legal and others) to pen down a strategic mobile policy.

Every department needs a different set of tools to protect data. It is hard to find a robust security strategy, but it is recommended to introduce these seven must-have security measures in any context. You could discuss your enterprise mobility requirements, mobile app development ideas with us, and get consultation on how to secure mobile devices and how you can exploit the benefits of enterprise mobility with us.

For more on enterprise mobility, mobile app development or cross platform app development, drop your inquiries at inquiry@cygnet-infotech.com