How to Protect your Mobile Workforce and Maintain Productivity
Published on 26 June 15
Sarah0
Due to their wireless communication protocols, mobile devises are extremely vulnerable to hacking attacks, information interception and accessing sensitive data. Mobile workers are always online, the whole world is their office; the café, the airport, the back seat of a cab. This working style brings increased security issues for businesses. The reports show that up to 91% of employees use their work smartphones for personal use, while 81% use check their business mail on their personal smartphones. These tips will show you how to maintain a high level of security while using a mobile device.
Public Wi-Fi Networks
With an abundance of freeware Wi-Fi sniffing tools, employees should be cautious whenever accessing a public hotspot. They should be educated to send business emails through an encrypted channel only, like VPN, webmail, etc. In some case this safety policy is ignored for various reasons, like sending company email attachments to a private account so they can be accessed from home.
Maintain Visual Privacy
There is no way to conceal sensitive data that appears on your laptop screen. The visual privacy is more at risk than ever, as today's smartphone cameras are powerful enough to take a readable shot of the screen data, even at distance. Minimize this risk by turning the screen away from their public, or use screen filters that disable viewing from an angle. Still, the most important is to be constantly aware of your working environment, especially in conventions and conferences where a lot of people of the same industry meet and gather, and there are more chances for corporate espionage.
Leaking Social Network Pipes
There is much an interested party can learn from geo-tagging. While it is tempting to check in here and there, upload a startling photo of a picturesque country road in Michigan may not be revealing to many. But a geo-tag information that says Battle Creek, MI, and the caption that reads that tomorrow is a big day may be easily deduced that the negotiations with Kellogg’s, which holds the HQ in this small town, are entering a final stage.
Mobile Device Remote Wipe
In most cases, the corporate data found on a lost or stolen smartphone is more valuable to someone than the device itself. Most reliable mobile phone providers advise that you install the remote wipe feature. It can be set on business device, both company-owned and private. By installing such software, you increase your chances for protecting sensitive information. However, you need to determine that the device is stolen or lost as soon as you can and act fast. Otherwise, the thief may download the data first or even disable the remote wipe.
Lock Mobile Devices
Sometimes the most basic features are the most effective. When everything else fails, the delay locking mechanism of your device will make sure the information is protected from unauthorized use. It works great combined with remorse erase software, as it gives the owner time to clear the device memory, or eventually pinpoint its location via GPS feature.
At the end of the day, protecting business data on mobile devices depends largely on employees’ conscience that the media is porous, and that leaking or stolen data can an will be used against you. With some education on the possible threats, employees could become a stronger link in corporate security.
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