Apr 04, 2014

As more employee devices enter the workplace, establishing mobile access control is becoming essential to ensuring that corporate information is secure. However, as the technological landscape becomes more complex, new threats are beginning to emerge, challenging the current safety measures. Workers are using more personal hardware and applications on a daily basis, making it necessary for IT staff to create an effective policy and provide employees with the tools they need.

While the bring-your-own-device trend has been taking organizations by storm, this effort could soon be replaced by staff using any personal equipment, applications and platforms to complete their work tasks. According to Information Age, bring your own anything (BYOx) would allow users to do business however they choose, but this poses substantial problems to security and budget constraints. However, instead of trying to manage the devices and applications themselves, it will be easier to start with the users and train them on how to safely access their corporate resources through secure file sharing. This can be accomplished by devising a policy that addresses real-time security needs and ensuring a seamless experience.

“Ultimately, IT departments need to become more service centric, and less focused on purchasing and configuring devices and operating systems,” according to the source. “Leaders within the department also have to cultivate a culture of future focus and be at the cutting edge of new IT trends – if only to see how they would affect their own business.”

Observing BYOD best practices
While BYOx is a looming possibility, BYOD is still the prominent effort being made by organizations across a variety of industries. Through these initiatives, businesses are able to promote mobile practices and ensure that they are offering staff the flexibility that has been demanded for years. With mobile devices, working from anywhere is more feasible than ever, and accommodations must be made for these capabilities. According to GCN, because the hardware makes data portable, this adds more potential for breaches, but this can be mitigated through encryption practices and failsafes.

Although no decision maker wants to consider if their data will be lost, they should still integrate protection to deter any events. With failsafes like remote device wiping, organizations can have better control over who views sensitive information and ensure that unapproved parties cannot access the mobile file sharing solution. Encryption adds another layer of protection by coding the documents and storing the key in a safe location. Through these measures, decision makers will have more oversight into where their assets are and who is viewing it, creating more accountability and effectively impeding potential compromises.

“Plans for worst-case scenarios – when devices are lost or stolen – should be put in place,” GCN noted. “While lost devices are a headache for everyone, having the ability to remotely kill data or shut a device down limits the amount of leaked data.”

Mobile processes are creating new priorities for the business model, and these efforts will be reflected in security measures. Integrating a secure solution such as Memeo C1 will protect sensitive files and ensure that employees can leverage their mobile devices effectively.