The majority of business in Australia have lost visibility of the identity and activity of the mobile technology operating within their organisation.
Mobility Challenges
This presents a real challenge for businesses seeking to secure their corporate data and be able to accurately identify each and every mobile device connecting to enterprise data. Tim Fussell, founder and CEO of imei, notes that “in the last 17 years, imei has not identified a single organisation that has demonstrated complete visibility and control over the mobile technology in their business." This lack of visibility increases vulnerability for organisations and can be classified into three crucial blind spots:
1) Identity
One of the most significant blind spots for Enterprise is not knowing the personal identity associated with each device in the business, as well as the corporate data being accessed by them or stored on them. This was evident in a recent customer case study conducted by imei, which showed that over 20% of the existing services for one of Australia’s largest private healthcare providers, were unassigned, unused and location of device unknown. This represented over $90k worth of unassigned charges annually. Additionally, they posed a security risk, due to lack of visibility within the organisation. imei has found that this is quite common for organisations with 150 or more services.
2) Security
Companies without full visibility and management over their mobile technology often waste time trying to locate, track and secure their devices. This poses both internal and external security risks and provides a back door into corporate networks and unauthorised access of corporate resources. It is surprisingly commonplace for employees who have changed or left roles, carrying phones, laptops, and tablets with access to business applications that they no longer need, should have access to, or that are relevant for their position. Without visibility of mobile device access, security protocols, and recovery services, businesses also leave themselves exposed to a range of external risks, including malware, ransomware, and viruses, that could easily be avoided.
3) Cost
Costs associated with lost or stolen devices within an organisation are significant, In fact, a study conducted by the Ponemon Institute* estimates that lost and stolen devices could cost a large enterprise over $800k per year, with much of this relating to IT security support, diminished productivity, and recovery services. This has been confirmed in recent reports** showing that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Department of Immigration are facing bills exceeding $417k due to damaged, lost, and stolen mobile devices even though these devices accounted for just 2.86% of the ATO’s total fleet of 4786 devices. This does not consider the price of unauthorised access, data recovery or the significant costs experienced in the event of a data breach or cyber-attack*** associated with lost or hacked devices. Complete visibility over the identity of mobile users enables organisations to ensure that end users are held accountable for the care of mobile equipment, and well-written policy ensures the cost incurred by organisations is minimised.
Gain Visibility and Control
The team at imei has a three-step plan to help organisations gain visibility, control and management of their mobile technology.
1) Validate
The first step to gain visibility is by completing a full validation of an organisation’s technology, users, services, security, data, people, processes and carriage costs. This tackles identity, cost, and security concerns head-on by providing a comprehensive picture of a business and its mobile device fleet. This process has been developed by imei with unique systems utilised and packaged under its’ service, imei Intelligence.
2) Act
With a current snapshot from the audit, organisations can identify services and devices that are not in use but are potentially costing tens of thousands of dollars to maintain. Businesses can then act on these insights to reallocate and secure unused devices and terminate unused services.
3) Maintain
Once the intelligence has been collected and a comprehensive picture of a company’s mobile technology ecosystem has been established, an organisation can then begin to develop and execute policies to ensure that data sets are kept up to date and relevant to make key business decisions to improve security and productivity.
imei: Enterprise Mobility
If you would like an accurate identity and comprehensive visibility behind all mobile technology accessing your network, reach out to an imei consultant today.
References:
*Ponemon Institute: The cost of insecure devices in the workplace
**IT News: ATO, Immigration left with 417k Device Replacement Bills
***imei: The Uber Data Breach Implications for Threat Management
