The Growing Threat of Mobile Malware and Its Impact on BYOD
The Growing Threat of Mobile Malware and Its Impact on BYOD by UCStrategies Staff
Although smartphones and tablets are used in the workplace, IT professionals have, in a survey of 3,300 IT professionals from 22 countries, expressed concern over the lack of restrictions in place to prevent sensitive corporate data from escaping.
The management of security policies and placing controls on device activity by mobile device management is also noted, in the survey, to have increased in interest. However, not much input was offered on real deployments of the technology.
The survey was conducted in 2012 by B2B International and Kaspersky Lab and, according to the latter, all respondents stated that they were influencers of IT security policy.
The company stated: “The deployment level of dedicated tools to ensure the security of mobile devices [mobile device management] is still extremely low both in small and large companies.”
Around 34 percent of respondents indicated that mobile devices are a serious threat to business. Additionally, around 55 percent noted that the security of corporate smartphones and tablets was being addressed more by IT professionals now than last year.
In spite of the significance of mobile malware and attacks targeted at the owners of devices, the risk of losing a device or having one stolen is a greater threat to enterprises, according to the majority of security experts. Around 10 percent of respondents reported data leaks in consequence of the loss or theft of mobile devices.
Compared to overall malware, mobile malware only represents a small portion of the former. However, Kaspersky and other security vendors maintain that, particularly on devices running Google Android firmware, mobile malware is slowly increasing.
Asia, Africa, certain Eastern European countries and India have the highest risk for mobile malware. Applications collating location data, contacts and other information are also a potential threat.
Remote wipe capabilities and corporate IT teams, provided by mobile device management platforms, account for the various mobile platforms and large amount of handsets attempting to connect to the network.
Mobile application stores are set up by companies who are now increasingly enabled by advanced capabilities. This allows for the distribution of certain apps, accessible for corporate resources. However, recent surveys highlight that not many organizations have corporate stores.
Those organizations which were surveyed are notably making the most of the BYOD trend. Nineteen percent of companies prohibit personal smartphones, and 33 percent of companies allow full access to corporate resources.
Thirty-six percent of respondents stated their employees would be encouraged to utilize personal devices at work. According to Kaspersky, “This approach could benefit a company but only if common safety rules for personal devices are enforced and an effective solution is implemented to control and protect all devices, regardless of whether they belong to the employee or the company.” (CY) Link