For many organizations, the push to remote work in response to the pandemic added greater urgency to their plans to implement a zero-trust cybersecurity posture, of which digital identity is an important piece. But solving the identity piece at scale involves tradeoffs. Solutions that leverage users’ smartphones are relatively easy to roll out, but one-time passwords delivered via authenticator apps or SMS messages have shown themselves to be easy prey for hackers. Security keys and biometric readers offer more robust security but are generally more expensive and can be a pain for IT staff and users alike.
But in an office environment, some of these issues can be mitigated, as companies have greater visibility and control of the environment and can mandate buy-in from employees. Beyond tracking distance, smartphones can serve as hubs for employees’ health passes, with vaccine status, recent COVID-19 test results and even self-reported symptom checks used to clear employees before allowing entry into their places of work. Besides minimizing company liability and sick days, such systems will enable organizations to lure remote workers back into the office.
As companies embrace the New Year, it’s imperative to make securing mobile devices used for business purposes a top priority. Whether your company provides employees with devices or has a BYOD policy, there are too many operating system vulnerabilities (both on Android and iOS) to wholeheartedly trust built-in security measures. A quick glance at some of the most prevalent mobile security threats of 2020 proves this point. Entering the New Year, it’s clear that COVID-19 themed attacks and nation-state interference are on the rise. As such, implementing a comprehensive Zero Trust policy across your entire organization, including for contractors and temporary employees, is essential.
In summary, the mobile cyber security landscape will evolve in 2021. AI technology, cloud architecture and 5G will transform the digital sphere and hackers will explore new avenues for launching attacks. Cyber security will continue to become a top priority for businesses of all sizes. Organizations who are still of the “it won’t happen to us” mentality, are playing a dangerous waiting game. Instead, businesses need to take the proactive “it could definitely happen to us” approach.
We present to you, “Top 10 Mobile Security Solution Providers - 2021.”
