Going Beyond MDM to Address Mobile Threats

Gigaom Research recently released a report entitled “Beyond MDM: what today’s enterprise needs to answer mobile security threats.” The report, written by analyst Michael Finneran, looks at how the current “device-based” security mindset at most organizations is coming at the expense of the ability to better detect and respond to security incidents.

Organizations must prepare for mobile devices’ inevitable security incidents, such as data leakage, insider threats, and malware. Many have come to rely on mobile device management (MDM) systems as a key element in their protection strategy. However, organizations also need deep and broad visibility across mobile devices combined with the capability to detect security incidents, and most important, the ability to resolve them in a proactive fashion before major damage is done. They must be able to extract all of the valuable data that is required for incident detection and response from all the various mobile devices involved, including volatile data, images, and data hidden within applications.

Findings from the report include:

• Many organizations are not taking enough steps to ensure mobile devices that access corporate data are secure
• Most organizations do not have a response plan should a mobile security incident occur
• Organizations need to assess threats from websites that users access
• Organizations need to increase proactive visibility, monitoring, and analysis when it comes to devices, data and apps

As we’ve been discussing lately, many organizations have been adopting mobile device management (MDM) programs, when more comprehensive enterprise mobility management (EMM) solutions would offer a more integrated approach including application management, content management and more. To learn how we can help, visit our website.