Mobile Devices: Mission Critical but Mismanaged

Juniper Research has put out a research paper that aims to Address Mobile Device Security and Management Requirements in the Enterprise.

As we can expect, the study shows that mobile devices have become an integral part of the enterprise environment, with many employees using mobile devices as a part of their day-to-day productivity. Although the survey does use data, it's from late 2009 and I believe the numbers far under-represent the mobile market today.

That said, we can draw some interesting conclusions from the research:

• Mobile devices have become mission critical
• Employees need mobile access to e-mail, intranet and other applications with sensitive information
• Management and security lag behind for mobile devices
• Mobile devices may represent the biggest "weak link" in the security chain
• The most desired security features for mobile phones includes encryption, firewall, authentication, antivirus, device locking, data loss prevention and device wiping

The report ends with a quick summary on what's needed: sound policies, documented processes, integrated mobile device management and security tools, and constant oversight.

Although I think research surveys are great and that we can gain a great deal of understanding about how to develop better business and security practices from the understanding of these surveys, my one beef with this particular report is that its conclusions are based upon research in late 2009. Although advice can be updated, the data itself is quite out-of-date.

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