How many times in the company have you had to use your mobile phone for work purposes? In fact, mobile devices have now become essential tools for our daily office activities, so much so that they have integrated into most organizations. They allow you to be productive and efficient and greatly help the remote working component.
However, corporate mobile devices can also pose a danger, especially if they become the target of cybercriminals. For this reason, mobile device management comes to the rescue and allows you to secure mobile devices at risk.
Intro To Mobile Device Management
In practice, it is a set of company certificates, applications, and supporting back-end infrastructures capable of improving the security of company data through the monitoring, management, and protection of mobile devices, including notebooks, tablets, and smartphones, usually in organizations.
Functionality
A tool based on mobile device management has significant features within it, including:
- deleting company data or the entire contents of the device remotely;
- Virtual Private Network (VPN);
- Management of permissions that refer to the download of only permitted applications;
- Using a default browser to browse the Internet
- Punctual and centralized management of updates and security patches that are available for the various operating systems present on the device
Three Elements Of MDM
Mobile Device Management is made up of 3 essential elements, which more precisely are networks, devices, and people. Let’s look at them better, one by one!
Networks
When we talk about the network, we don’t just mean the infrastructure itself but also all those corporate resources that are made available to colleagues and collaborators. The objective of management is twofold. In fact, firstly, it ensures that data and services are also available remotely. Still secondly, it must prevent external threats that have compromised a mobile device from being able to penetrate and spread across the network.
Devices
The category above includes all technological tools, such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and notebooks, with their related operating systems and applications. However, these devices are more at risk of damage, theft, or loss as they can be taken beyond the company’s perimeter.
People
People in this area are also called end users of mobile devices. There must be business logic at the hierarchical level in terms of various access permissions.
How An MDM Tool Works
In essence, the tool based on MDM, called Mobile Manager, consists of a server component and a client profile. The company manages the first component, which allows you to apply company policies, share resources, use default apps, and distribute updates over the mobile network. The second component, however, is directly installed on the device and has the task of executing the commands.
Security Best Practices With MDM
It is necessary to rely on specific security measures that must be considered when choosing an MDM solution. Here they are listed below!
Centralize Governance And Support Mobile Devices At The Technical Level
First of all, you must have clear objectives and context constraints in order to determine a security perimeter. The company needs to be able to centralize the governance of the tools, so for this reason, it is necessary to catalog the assets in order to be able to reconstruct the type and quantity of devices in use.
To achieve all this, however, one can only do with the filing of the model, the unique identification codes, and the uses that are permitted, as these elements depend on the achievement of the pre-established company objectives. Furthermore, based on the purposes outlined, organizations need to determine which applications are required or allowed, as well as how to control and update them.
Authentication Factors And Access Control
Another aspect that plays a crucial role is the definition of the possible ways of accessing the company’s network, that is, not only the infrastructure itself but also the set of resources that are available through it. What does all this mean in simple terms? A practice must be put in place by which the user or the device itself is authenticated and then given a specific level of authorization.
Furthermore, it is essential to continuously monitor access to ensure that any threat that has entered the device does not reach the entire corporate network. Therefore, if strange and suspicious behavior is identified, it will be possible to block the infected device immediately!
Risk Mitigation And Management Of Unexpected Events
As regards the risks due to interceptions, thefts, and various losses, to mitigate these dangers best, companies must prepare the following measures:
- First of all, we start by raising awareness and making end users responsible for the protection of devices at a physical level.
- Another element is logical protection; that is, to achieve confidentiality protection, we go through the process of encrypting the device’s memory and the local authentication process.
- In addition, to preserve the available data, it is essential to use an effective backup plan, which is run on a remote server and comes in handy when the device is compromised.
Protect Your Business With Scale Fusion
As you will have understood from this article, effective and well-structured MDM platforms can bring value to companies in terms of the security of mobile devices and the consequent productivity and flexibility of human resources within the work team.
Also Read: Deep Fakes: How To Recognize Them And Protect Yourself
