Mobile Security

One of the most common cyber security threats that Australian businesses face each day is from employers allowing their employees to use their own personal devices for work purposes.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies enable organisations to take advantage of new technologies faster, reduce hardware costs, as well as improve organisational productivity and flexibility.

They also introduce risks to an organisation’s business and the security of its information including:

• Local exposure – Loss of control and visibility of the enterprise data
• Data leakage – Disclosure of enterprise data from an unsecured device.
• Data Loss – Physical loss or theft of a device
• Public Exposure – ‘Man-in-the-middle’ attacks and eavesdropping at public wi-fi hotspots
• Insecure usage – Unacceptable use of a BYOD by a third party
• Malicious apps – Devices with compromised integrity.
• Rogue apps – Fake apps that try to look like apps from trusted brands
• Cross contamination – Corporate data may be accidentally deleted
• OS-specific security customization – “Jailbreaking”, “root”, and “unlock” to remove vendors’ configuration restrictions.
• Insider attacks – Local area network access via a valid user profile

Mobile security is the strategy, infrastructure, and software used to protect BYOD devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Cybersecurity for mobile devices includes protecting data on the local device as well as endpoints such as networking equipment.

If your smartphone is lost or compromised, your information could be at risk too! Protecting your mobile device is just as important as protecting your PC or wallet. If someone gets full access to your phone, they could also access:

• Your email and social media accounts
• Your messages and contacts
• Your photos, videos and personal notes
• Your banking or financial details
• Any apps you use and the data you store in them; and
• Your browser history