Welcome to Cybersecurity in 31 Days. I’m Malan Faya, your host. Today is Day 3. To view previous posts, click here.
As life and business become increasingly mobile, mobile-phone communication has become prevalent. Accessing workplace data on a mobile phone benefits almost any business. Mobile devices enable teams access workspaces 24/7. Company mobile devices and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) smartphones can increase productivity and efficiency. Research has shown that this way of working brings about greater flexibility, freedom, and the ability to exchange information immediately. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that workplaces are now also faced with new risks and challenges from cybercriminals and hackers. This situation has made mobile security critical. Since employers don’t have control over how employees use their mobile devices for nonwork-related communication, mobile-device communication is understandably a threat to cybersecurity. It’s a weak link.
According to the Larry Dignan’s ‘Your Biggest Cybersecurity Weakness Is Your Phone’ published in Harvard Business Review, “[m]obile devices are one of the weakest links in corporate security. Executives are wrestling with managing a proliferation of devices, protecting data, securing networks, and training employees to take security seriously.”
Mobile devices are not always a secure way to connect to your organization’s network. With the right equipment and knowhow, hackers can gain access to a nearby mobile phone in less than 30 seconds and mirror the device or install malware. For mobile-device security purposes, you should only access workplace data on your mobile device when absolutely necessary and you should always connect from an encrypted and secured connection. Also, any device that you use to access your business network or workplace data should be approved for business use and meet minimum security requirements defined by IT department.
So it’s not really mobile devices that are the problem, but the human link. To keep your mobile devices secured, secure yourself.