Despite the significant advantages of enterprise mobility, for IT and security professionals, mobility creates ongoing challenges. Chief among them is finding the right balance between allowing staff to work wherever and whenever they need to, on their preferred device, and having internal controls in place to ensure company data is safe and secure.
It’s not easy. According to a recent article in The Sydney Morning Herald, an internal audit of the state's transport agencies found significant gaps in internal controls of enterprise mobility and security. The government did not know who was using more than 6,200 mobile phone SIM cards, potentially putting government data at risk. What if sensitive data on these devices had fallen into the wrong hands?
In addition, more than 10,500 devices, including mobile phones and laptops, were not assigned to an individual cost centre. This oversight meant the lead agency, Transport for NSW, was picking up the bill for their use instead of the agencies actually responsible for using them.
The audit also estimated that the government could save approximately $600,000 a year by ensuring better oversight of technology used by the workforce at the state's transport agencies.
Enterprise mobility and security: Ramp up internal controls
As the number of mobile devices in an organisation grows, the complexity involved in managing them also escalates. No longer is the most sensitive information on an employee’s device their contact names and phone numbers. Depending on how your employees use mobile devices at work, unauthorised access to the information on an employee’s smartphone could be just as damaging as a data breach of your computer system.
User identity
In terms of keeping control of your devices, in imei’s experience, things start to get complicated at around the 50 mark. Organisations with upwards of 50 mobile devices in their fleet need to employ tools to manage and keep track of those devices. At this point, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain an accurate and up-to-date identity of the users and information and systems they access.
As your mobile fleet approaches or surpasses 50 devices, use this as an opportunity to batten down the hatches and mitigate the risk of sensitive information being accessed on unsecured devices.
imei can help your organisation ramp up internal controls, manage costs and reduce security risks by giving you greater visibility over your mobile fleet and other communications systems. With our tools and technologies, you can monitor, maintain, and secure access to company resources at all times.
Greater visibility of enterprise mobility and security
imei Intelligence gives you a clear read on the effectiveness of your mobile device fleet and network infrastructure for voice and data. It covers:
- Users’ digital identity
- User access control and authentication
- Location of devices
- Security level enabled on the devices
- Carrier, device application costs
- Capacity summary of voice and data infrastructure, services, and end-user services for better planning and risk management
By building an accurate snapshot and maintaining and securing all components of your mobility ecosystem, you can both secure and enable your employees’ use of mobile devices for maximum competitive advantage.
For example, it’s important to know how fully a device is protected against security threats such as phishing risks, and unsecured Wi-Fi networks. With imei Intelligence you can see security settings and take action where necessary to ensure security protocols are at their highest level and ensure your mobile devices are on the latest and most up to date operating system.
Likewise, when employees leave your organisation it’s important to off-board them and their technology. This includes ensuring access to services is shut off and devices are appropriately decommissioned or wiped. Again, with imei Intelligence, you can see at a glance and take appropriate action.
By putting the right internal controls in place you could save significant costs while heightening mobile data security standards ensuring your people can take full advantage of mobile working. With an imei Intelligence service, our experts will put together recommendations for savings, performance improvements, and headroom for growth. So, just like the government, you can potentially realise significant savings just by putting the right controls in place.
Free assessment
If your organisation allows employees to access corporate data from mobile devices you need clear oversight. Book an obligation-free assessment of your communications environment with imei Intelligence service to gauge the gaps in your internal controls.
Assess your risk
Don’t become another statistic in OAIC’s next quarterly report. Use our data risk calculator to assess data risk in your organisation and identify potential issues before they become costly problems.
