Summertime! That means sunshine, travel…and additional data threats to your smartphone. What’s that? You don’t consider mobile security risks and summertime as going hand in hand? Well, consider this: As you and your employees take some well-deserved time off, will you be taking smartphones with you? Of course you will. And chances are you will be accessing corporate data. In fact, a recent Symantec survey on security habits of mobile device users revealed that 62 percent of corporate smartphone users access sensitive corporate information while on vacation, and 81 percent will at least be checking their business email accounts.
With a variety of looming threats, from unsecured networks to malicious apps, corporate smartphone users should carefully consider what they can do to make sure a vacation from the office doesn’t turn into a vacation from security. The following best practices will help you keep mobile devices secure.
Mobile devices represent an important juncture between corporate and personal data. With 91 percent of companies allowing their employees to use work-related smartphones for personal use, and the lack of corporate control over mobile carrier networks, security threats are less a matter of if than when. IT managers and mobile device users can work together to establish and adhere to policies that will keep data secure at the local coffee shop, the airport and the beach. After all, even though you may be taking a few days off this summer from the daily grind, cybercrime doesn’t take a vacation.