Prior to the XXII Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, concerns were shared from many American news outlets in regards to mobile data security. On the eve of competition the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams broadcasted a story suggesting that data security in Russia, and more specifically, at the Olympic games was atrocious; with the reporter, Richard Engel, getting both his smartphone and his work laptop hacked almost immediately.
We wrote a blog titled, "Hackers Go for the Gold at the Sochi Winter Olympics" that described this event, and the importance of using your head when taking advantage of your mobile device's capabilities to connect to unsecured or foreign WiFi connections. Subsequent to the broadcast of this report, several IT news services have intimated that the report was completely fabricated, with NBC hotly denying this. At Business Solutions & Software Group, we don't want to publish fiction as fact. With that said, the blog post's theme, the best practices of mobile data security, is absolutely what we'd like all of our readers to completely understand.
To do this, we have compiled a list of five concepts every business owner and CIO should know, and communicate to their staff, about mobile data security. The list includes:
- Make Careful Connections - Not all WiFi accounts can be trusted. To ensure the safety of the data on your devices doesn't get compromised, only use WiFi connections that you trust, and limit your Bluetooth use to situations where it is necessary.
- Require Verification - Many mobile device management softwares allow administrators to require authentication before users can access the files using a mobile connection.
- Control Third Party Software - By taking control of the applications on your employee's mobile devices, you have control of the computing environment. This gives administrators more control over the information that they want to share and the ability to wipe data off a device if need be.
- Make Solid Device Choices - By being diligent about device purchases you can get devices that already have dedicated antivirus software and capabilities for data encryption to boost security of your data.
- Consider Intrusion Prevention - Most mobile devices come equipped with the capabilities to report all traffic. This information can be useful to keep information secure and private.
For your organization to realize it's potential, you'll need to put in place resources that work to that end. At Business Solutions & Software Group, we provide comprehensive IT solutions to many small and mid-sized businesses in the South Florida area. We can select a mobile device management software that best meets your organization's needs and can provide you with the kind of technological expertise you can use to boost your company's performance. For more information, contact us today at (954) 575-3992.
