Seven Actions To Take Immediately to Help Protect You Mobile Endpoints

If the risks and costs of data compromise have not jolted you to take action, maybe AdvIntel discoveries about a Russian hacking collective (Fxmsp) breaching three major anti-virus companies will. Fxmsp has a known reputation for infiltrating well-protected networks. Their targets typically include highly-sensitive corporate and government information. They hack, obtain data and source code, and sell it on the dark web.

As this story and new ones unfold, ISEC7’s strategic mobile advisors offers seven ways to take control of your mobile environment with best practices for defending your endpoints. 

• Assess your current anti-virus program and its mobile threat detection (MTD) capabilities. Mobile devices are the highest risk area for data breach and a huge vulnerability. Review what your anti-virus software covers specific to mobile protection

• Evaluate and identify service providers with the expertise in mobile endpoint security. Find the ones who truly know mobile security and management. It is recommended to find CMDSP-certified advisors with the skills specific to mobile needs, processes and standards

• Develop a mobile strategy to defend mobile endpoints. Your roadmap should include measuring ROI, usability, mobile performance and a great user experience. Revisit and refine your strategic document on an annual basis while getting regular feedback from end users throughout the year.

• Communicate the strategy and priority cross-department and ensure all management buy-in. Your mobile strategy must have the support of the C-suite and throughout the organization. Every device is a vehicle for potential hacking and could be at risk.

• Select tools and resources to help simplify mobile management, monitoring and support. Monitoring tools, like ISEC7 EMM Suite, allow you to keep an eye on devices and infrastructure while ensuring services are up and functioning. And, if you do not have a dedicated team or person accountable for mobile initiatives and device management, now is the time to assign one – internally or outsourced

• Train and certify your technical teams on mobile device security and management. CMDSP provides the Mobile Device Security Professional the training and knowledge needed to manage enterprise mobile devices and usage. We recommend working with a CMDSP Approved Training Center (ATC).

• Develop and implement security awareness education across your organization. The action or lack of action taken by mobile device users can put your organization at risk every day. Protecting sensitive data must be ingrained into each individual. We recommend it starts with onboarding of new people and continues through regular ongoing training.