Traditional software vendors are making progress in improving the security of their products, which is forcing cyber criminals to focus more on mobile devices. However, many organizations are lagging when it comes to mobile security. Mobile devices are prone to being lost or stolen, yet very few are encrypted. Organizations need to identify and classify the information they need to protect and apply an appropriate level of encryption.
In addition, mobile networks typically use open standards and allow interoperability between devices—infection can easily spread in such an environment. Mobile phone manufacturers do not manage and deploy patches centrally as computer vendors do. Tablets, meanwhile, access corporate networks in the same way as laptops, yet lack similar security controls.
Other issues include the freewheeling market for mobile applications, which has no central security standards in place; and the geo-tagging embedded in many mobile devices. Finally, it must be remembered that many of the devices accessing corporate networks start as personal devices, further limiting the IT department’s control over their security features.
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