How to secure the growing number of mobile devices?

The statement ‘Data is the new economy’ is probably not new to you. Data is the center of every business model as it creates insight and intelligence. Anything with value is interesting to steal. People with malicious intents will try to access your data and use it for their profit. Just think of cryptolockers and identity theft for example.

If your company data gets altered or stolen, this can have serious consequences. It can disrupt the daily functioning of your organization and/or ruin its reputation. Europe is already pushing organizations to protect their data through legislation such as the GDPR.

How to protect your data?

It is essential to classify your data. You need to know which data you have, where it resides and how it is processed and by whom.

Users play a significant role as they are the ones that use your applications and data in their workspace. The new generation of employees wants to work anytime, anywhere and on any device. However, this mobility requires additional security.

How do you have a trusted computer session on any type of device while ensuring your business applications and data are delivered securely? You cannot just put your data in a vault and never touch it because the value thereof lies in its processing and its updating. SecureLink offers a solution to this problem called ‘SecureWorkspace’.

What is a SecureWorkspace solution?

The SecureWorkspace makes everything virtual. This means that there are no physical files on the devices. It is a framework of technologies which enables a portable, always-connected secure work environment that follows the user no matter where he goes (inside or outside the office), what device he chooses (laptops, smartphones, tablets…) or what network he is on.

The SecureWorkspace uses a secure data access platform which securely enables access to your data, whether it’s stored on-premise, in the cloud, or a hybrid solution. In Belgium alone, we already have more than 200 SecureWorkspace customers. Many of them are active in production environments, retail; and healthcare. From the moment you have many branches and/or many mobile workers, this becomes a very interesting solution.

The SecureWorkspace enables:

• A clear overview of your applications and their users;
• Effortless access to any app or virtual desktop and improved user experience;
• Privacy with regard to the user’s personal apps and data invisible to IT;
• Update policies in seconds, instead of months;
• Easy implementation of security controls & context-aware identity and access management (IAM);
• Better protection against insider threats as it is easier to integrate behavior analytics and machine learning;
• Logging of every event;
• The possibility to make a distinction between guest and employee access to specific data and applications;
• Predictable scalability;
• The opportunity to add extra controls, e.g. East-West traffic blockers, patch management;
• BYOD;
• Easy disaster recovery and high availability through the follow-me data principle.

Furthermore, it is entirely cloud-ready, and it prevents your data from being uncontrollably copied.

As it is the users who have to deal with this technology, we choose to apply an end-user approach. This means that we listen to the requirements of the specific end-user. It is evident that a warehouse keeper has different needs from an HR Manager, for example. They are the ones that can tell you what they need to perform their jobs.

Learn more about the SecureWorkspace.

The Importance of End User Awareness

On top of offering a secure work environment, you of course need to train your mobile end users. They can be the weakest link. Just think of unintentionally opening malware files, social engineering, theft of confidential information, media dropping, dumpster diving and more. Your end users should understand the security risks, also in their private lives. Regular education on this topic is necessary. At SecureLink, we offer customized End User Awareness Trainings.

Keeping an eye on your end user’s behavior is not a luxury. Insider threats are not to be underestimated. As mentioned above, good IAM, behavioral analytics and machine learning can help you face this challenge.

Author: Wim Van Balen