Data Security and Mobile Devices

 Introduction

Mobile devices such as smartphones, PDAs, tablets, and netbooks have become an integral part of everyday business operations. Millions of people log into their company’s secure network on mobile devices via wireless Internet or even accessing their email, making sensitive data more susceptible to data theft and hacking. Mobile technology is advancing at such a fast pace, making it harder for IT managers to keep up with newly emerging threats. Since the smartphone emerged in the business scene, cybercrime has increased exponentially.

Data security has now become the main focus for most IT managers in larger corporations. What are some of the risks associated with using mobile devices in business operations? Human error is the biggest risk associated with data security when it comes to using mobile devices. This is mostly due to loss of theft of a smartphone or other mobile device. In a study conducted in Washington DC last year, taxi drivers counted the number of mobile phones that were left behind in taxis over a six month period. Over eighty-three hundred phones were recovered.

That was almost twenty-five times the number of laptops that were left in the taxis during the same period. Although all corporate laptops are password protected, few have password protection on their mobile devices. (Phifer) “According to Credent Technologies, eighty-eight percent of mobile devices carry valuable information- from patient, customer and employee records, financial statements, and passwords,” (Phifer). Because so few people PIN-lock their phones, all of this sensitive data can easily fall in to the hands of a hacker.

Mobile users often auto save their username and passwords to avoid monotonous reentry. This gives the hacker access to any information available to theft victim. Another major risk associated with the use of mobile devices is mobile malware. Most mobile operating systems lack the anti-virus and other security feature that are found on laptops. This makes mobile devices susceptible to viruses such as Trojan and worms. Doombot is a Trojan virus that is designed to affect all mobile operating platforms such as Android, iOS, and blackberry. It is transferred through MMS and Bluetooth (Panda Security).

What are some techniques used by IT managers to minimize security risks with mobile devices? It is vitally important to the cyber security of a company for IT managers to constantly be assessing the security of their network. Some important steps managers are taking are education, visualization, conservative defaults, hard switching, and most importantly manager and employee training. Educating employees about the risks of using mobile devices is important because the human element poses the greatest risk to the cyber security of the company.

Its important for the firm to have a training program in place so all employees know how to protect themselves and the company. Visualization is also important in constant uphill battle of cyber security. Managers must constantly be looking for the latest threats against the network and try to find a solution before a breach occurs. Conservative default settings on the firm’s network prevent employees from viewing non-secure websites and also from downloading files from places from outside the company’s network.

This would allow employees to still download attached files from intra-company email but would prevent the downloading of files that might be infected with a virus. (Nykodym) IT managers also use outside contractors to monitor a company’s network security. Companies like BlueFire Mobile Security cater to the rapidly expanding reliance on mobile devices. Their services provide protection for lost or stolen devices, information encryption, and security while on the Internet. They also offer protection for a company’s wired network as well.

They provide intrusion prevention, firewall, authentication, and encryption for the entire network. Contracts with companies like BlueFire are often made with smaller firms or with firms who want to reduce the size and budget of their IT department. (Computer Security Update) How significant was the increase of cyber attacks when mobile devices became part of everyday life? Smartphones exploded on the business scene in the mid 2000s. They provided the convenience of accession of vital information from anywhere.

According to Sharia Panela’s article for GMA News , “between 2007 and 2012, small and medium businesses reported steadily increasing web attacks. Malware, phising, and other types of violation surged by 35 percent while email attacks soared by 12 percent” (Panela). All of these types of attacks are in a large part due to the lack of security on mobile devices. In Norton’s 2012 Cybercrime Report, the total price tag on consumer data cybercrime was $110,000,000,000. China leads the pack with a total loss of $46 billion and the Unites States coming in second with a total loss of $21 billion.

With Apps for everything from mobile banking to syncing work and personal email, people have more sensitive data on their phone than ever before. The Cybercrime report concludes with the changing face of cybercrime. The new frontier for hackers is social media websites and new mobile devices. (Palmer) Conclusion: With all of the new developments in cyber security hackers always seem to be one step ahead. Smartphones and other mobile devices have become such an important part of everyday business employees. These devices are a virtual candy store for hackers, a one-stop shop for all of the data stored on the device.

If the device is lost or stolen, it can be used to access the internal network of the firm and extract private data about customers or financial information. Mobile Security has come to the forefront of the IT department’s agenda in larger data driven firms. Although they implement measures to prevent security breaches, the human element is the most damning. Managers need to provide educational programs for their employees to learn about proper use of mobile devices on company networks.

Works Cited

1. “Computer Security Update. ” Computer Security Update. 8. 4 (2007): 1-4.
2. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. Nykodym, Nick. “Journal of Politics and Law. ” Journal of Politics and Law. 5. 1 (2012): 1-6.
3. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. Palmer, Adam. “Norton Cybercrime Report 2012. ” Norton Cybercrime Report 2012. (2012): n. page.
4. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. Panela, Sharia. “Personal gadgets raise risk of cybercrime in workplace. ” GMA News Online. GMA Network Inc. , 18 2012.
5. Web. 4 Nov 2012. Phifer, Lisa. “Business Communications Review. ” Business Communications Review. (2007): 23-25.
6. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. “Virus Encyclopedia . ” Panda Securities. Panda Worldwide