More and more employees want to be able to work from anywhere at any time. What means more freedom for them means a lot of work for IT departments. After all, mobile devices pose a major threat to IT security if they are not adequately secured and vulnerabilities are not rectified promptly.
The growing demand for mobile working has also increased the risk of cyberattacks. Mobile devices are often inadequately secured against attacks and are therefore a popular target for cyber criminals. IT managers therefore urgently need to take care of data protection, the security of mobile devices and the integrity of data transfer. To this end, it is important to know the most popular gateways for cyber criminals and to secure them accordingly. We have listed the biggest vulnerabilities below:
1. data-hungry apps
Apps that allow malware to access or read confidential data after installation are a major threat that IT administrators are confronted with on mobile devices. This also includes popular and widespread messenger apps that, for example, have access to all contacts or files on the mobile device (unless the privacy settings prevent them from doing so) and, in case of doubt, pass them on to third parties.
2. security gaps in the operating system
Security gaps in applications or operating systems open up time and again. Ideally, these are quickly rectified and the gap closed again. However, it can also happen that manufacturers are unaware of such a gap and cyber criminals use the opportunity to launch a so-called zero-day attack to access confidential data or infiltrate malware into the system.
3. phishing attacks
In addition to hardware and software, the employees themselves are also an IT security factor that should not be neglected. Cybercriminals are aware of this and are constantly trying to persuade employees to hand over confidential data or passwords with fake emails or messages, some of which look deceptively real. To prevent employees from falling for the scam, they should be regularly informed about the current dangers and made aware of and trained in the topics of data protection and data security.
4. insecure networks
Ultra-mobile working also means that employees may use public Wi-Fi, hotspots or mobile data when working on the move. However, these connections are often not encrypted or insufficiently encrypted, making it easy for cybercriminals to read, intercept or steal sensitive information.
If companies want to enable their employees to work securely and ultra-mobile, they must secure communication and data flows, e.g. with the help of container solutions and end-to-end encryption, so that mobile devices cannot be used as a gateway by cyber criminals.