Managing a growing ecosystem of mobile devices connected to business network is one of the major challenges faced by enterprises. With an increasing number of business applications, documents, and data being accessed through these devices, security has become a primary concern. One loophole and all the business information can be exposed in minutes.Â
As per a report by IBM, average total cost of a data breach is $3.86 million.
This is where mobile device management solution helps businesses. MDM allows enterprises to securely manage and monitor the entire device inventory across multiple locations from a unified platform. It helps schedule compliance checks regularly to detect violations and make informed decisions to secure corporate data.
Here’s how can MDM help you to increase security of corporate data –
Lockdown Mode
Lock down any device to limit user access to a single or multiple business-specific applications to improve employee productivity and cut down costs. Lockdown mode enables organizations to gain granular control over device functionalities and selectively allow user access to device peripherals such as bluetooth, screen rotation, brightness, flashlight, Wi-Fi, volume, airplane mode, and more. Games and other entertainment applications can be restricted to empower users to focus on the intended purpose of device and reduce data usage.
Real-time Device Tracking
Tracking real-time device status to monitor employee SOP adherence is no more a cumbersome task. Mobile device management software allows to track real-time location of all the managed devices over map and retrieve GPS coordinates, connected date/time and accuracy. It helps to track employees with suspicious behavior and gain insights in case of any malpractice. With MDM, enterprises can monitor device health status including battery level, signal strength, memory storage information, data limit, APN, etc and provide remote assistance to troubleshoot device issues and reduce support costs.
Geo-fencing
Create a virtual fence around a physical geographical location and prevent users from accessing corporate resources once they move out of the defined perimeter. It restricts the movement of employees and sends alerts in case a user breaches a security policy. Set up multiple geo-fences and extract actionable insights about corporate assets based on their location.Â
Remote Lock or Wipe
MDM solution enables enterprises to take full control of corporate data and lock a device remotely in case it goes missing. Enforce complex passcodes to prevent unauthorized access and increase security of confidential enterprise information. Also, it helps to remotely wipe data partially or fully from a device. Full data wipe allows to delete all the files and folders from device storage, therefore rendering it as a formatted device whereas partial data wipe helps delete specific folders from a device. For example – If an employee wants to leave an organization, un-enrolling the device will remove all the applications and data from device and in case it is an employee-owned device, partial data wipe feature will help delete all business-specific data from device, leaving personal data untouched.Â
Application Containerization
Although, embracing BYOD policy has greatly helped enterprises reduce operational costs, it has also supplemented data security risks. However, leveraging a mobile device management solution helps businesses create a separate work container on employee-owned devices at the time of enrolment. The work profile is completely restricted to corporate data including business applications, documents, media files, emails, etc and data flow from in and outside the container is strictly prohibited.Â
Block Data Sharing
Employee as well as corporate-owned devices store confidential enterprise data which may fall into wrong hands if shared with unauthorized users. Thus, MDM enables to block data sharing access such as USB, messages, screen sharing functionality, bluetooth, camera, etc on all the managed devices to prevent users share corporate data with others. MDM software also helps to encrypt business data to render it unreadable to unauthorized users.Â
Benefits to use mobile device management
Employee Productivity
Leveraging mobile device management solution at workplace can help enterprises enhance employee productivity with tight security policies in place. Lock down the devices into kiosk mode to run business-specific applications and restrict access to games, camera, gallery, music, video content, social media and other entertainment apps to empower users to focus more at work. Moreover, real-time location tracking feature of MDM helps gain actionable insights about corporate assets and monitor routes followed by dispatch teams.Â
Monitor SOP Compliance
Schedule compliance checks regularly to detect violations and make informed decisions to secure corporate data. A notification policy can be set up to send alerts in case of rooting or jail-breaking attempts, geo-fencing, unauthorized access of devices, data leakage, and more. Get detailed reports on device health such as battery level, signal strength, application wise data usage, APN, data limit, etc and send alerts in case a device crosses data consumption thresholds.Â
Increase Corporate Security
Security is the primary concern of enterprises when it comes to sharing confidential corporate data with users. Therefore, mobile device management helps restrict messages, file-sharing access, screen capture feature, bluetooth, camera, USB, etc to prevent employees from sharing corporate information with others. With geo-fencing, admin can block access to enterprise data once a user moves out of the defined location. Furthermore, a work container can be created in employee-owned devices to keep business information separate from personal data to increase security.Â
Threat Management
Mobile threats are increasingly on a rise and may pose serious security risks to confidential enterprise information. Installing malicious applications and opening insecure websites or emails can pose sensitive corporate data to risk. However, MDM helps conduct periodic scans to identify issues and wipe device data remotely in case of a security breach. Restrict third party application installation and configure Wi-Fi settings remotely with the help of MDM software to prevent connections to malicious networks.
ConclusionÂ
Smartphones are becoming an integral part of corporate world. However, extensive proliferation of smart devices and applications can pose a serious threat to corporate data. Moreover, adapting BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) mobility culture can add to the problem if enterprises do not have a proper security management software in place. Therefore, mobile device management solution has become a necessity for enterprises to securely manage and monitor business assets and mitigate risks. It helps organizations gain a 360-degree overview of the entire device fleet and proactively detect issues to avert risks and increase corporate security.