Mobility is no longer something tangible that takes the form of a phone or tablet - it transcends the workforce. The growing use of using mobile devices, applications and content to perform tasks is now part of our identity, whether that's in the office, at home or somewhere else.
Consider the facts: Analyst firm Gartner in June reported that today's employees use an average of three separate devices each day - and that number will increase to five or six as the Internet of Things phenomenon continues to gain traction.
Indeed, mobility is growing faster than anyone could have imagined, and if organizations embrace it properly, they can reap huge the rewards of worker productivity and efficiency - and cost reductions.
But security professionals know all too well that when something moves quickly, security is often left out of the equation. For example, according to the 2015 Trustwave Global Security Report, 95 percent of mobile apps are vulnerable to attack, with a median of 6.5 flaws per app. That's big problem when, according to Gartner, IT departments are facing "an increasing amount of pressure…to develop a larger variety of mobile apps in shorter time frames."
As a result, businesses must respond to mobility through a more formalized and managed approach, with data protection and risk management firmly at the fore. Increasingly, we'll see resource-challenged businesses delegate this important work to an expert partner because they simply lack the in-house security skills and infrastructure to install, support and maintain mobile security on their own.
As a general rule to follow, here are three guiding tenets of secure mobility:
Test
You must identify vulnerabilities, reduce threats and strengthen the security of your mobile deployments across your ecosystem, as well as ensure the resilience and performance of your mobile apps and platforms.
Protect
Whether you are deploying a mobile point-of-sale device or the hottest new application, ensuring that these endpoints can't be compromised is paramount. Security solutions should provide visibility, as well as defense against fraud, tampering and infiltration.
Educate
Empower your employees with the mobile security know-how to help protect your business against growing security risks and compliance missteps.
Check out this webinar to learn more about secure mobility at your organization.
Dan Kaplan is manager of online content at Trustwave and a former IT security reporter and editor.
