Every company is worried about mobile security these days as most of the employees of these firms are finding it comfortable to access corporate data from Smartphone’s, tablets and other personal devices. But accessing sensitive data on unsecured devices or devices which lack trust is pushing firms into more trouble as there is always a threat luring on them of the critical data falling into wrong hands.
In general, most company head’s overlook areas which are least expected to cause mobile security hazards and this is pushing their IT assets into serious trouble. So, to all those who are ignorant of such threats, Cybersecurity Insiders brings to you the list of top six mobile security threats which need your attention on an immediate note.
Obsolete devices- outdated devices which run on legacy software could put an enterprise to risk as their operations won’t come with a guaranty that they are being conducted in a secure way- due to the lack of security updates. On the Android front, this threat proves much more severe as smartphones, tablets and smaller connected devices running on outdated software are always prone to risks of being hacked. Therefore, security analysts suggest that all those IT heads who want to keep their work environments safe from hacks should first focus on running their devices on the latest OSes as they receive timely and reliable updates intended to cover all sorts of security vulnerabilities from time to time.
Cryptojacking Cyber Attacks- Such attacks can be termed as a new addition to the list of relevant mobile threats where a hacker installs malware on a device via a cyber attack and then uses the processing power of the device to mine cryptocurrencies such as Monero and bitcoins. Thus, the affected phones suffer from battery drains and could probably die out early due to overheating components. In most cases, the crypto jacking malware infects mobile devices via app downloads via un-trusted sources. Therefore, security analysts say that users should be careful while downloading the apps only from official platforms and need to occasionally keep a tab on the app permissions and operations to weed out any suspects.
Poor password hygiene- Reusing passwords across multiple accounts and not selecting alphanumeric character enriched passwords can lead to account hacks. And this implies to both personal and company accounts. Moreover, sharing passwords with co-employees and friends can also lead to further trouble. So, always maintain password hygiene in your workplace to keep your office’s digital assets secure from attacks. Here employee awareness is key.
WI-Fi Interference- its common sense that a mobile device remains secure only when the network through which its data travels is well protected. Therefore, security analysts discourage corporate employees from connecting to public Wi-Fi networks as they often aren’t that secure as we might think- what if someone maliciously intercepts a communication between two parties and takes advantage of the situation like in Man-in-the-middle-attacks.
Social engineering attacks- Using various means to trick people into clicking malicious links in order to gain access to sensitive info is the aim of hackers behind social engineering attacks. And as mobile computing is increasingly being used in private companies, it is also bringing in a lot of troubles to corporate heads along with the benefits.
Data leak- Data spill is now being considered as one of the most worrisome threats to enterprise security in 2019. And a recent survey by Ponemon Institute predicts that nearly 28% of companies will experience at least one incident in the next two years. So, mitigating such threats by using Data Loss Prevention tools (DLP) may prove as the most effective forms of protection in enterprise security environments.
