Your Phones May be Smart, but are They Secure?

There was once a day when you were considered kind of cool if you had a smartphone or Blackberry – it was an honor typically reserved for executives. How the times have changed in just a few short years.   Now, everywhere you look, someone is using a smartphone. That’s a good thing as it’s improved anytime, anywhere communication by making us more in touch and accessible. On the flip side, there are some serious risks that companies face when incorporating smartphones into the corporate environment.
The most serious concerns are related to connectivity via email, Web, SMS and enterprise applications. This, combined with the ever-increasing local storage capabilities and 3G/4G speeds on smartphones, increases the potential for exposure of sensitive, confidential and legally protected data. On top of that, most users are not incented to comply with security policies before they are allowed to connect to email. Finally, lost or stolen devices that have sensitive data can be compromised, and most phones do not have any encryption capabilities on them or on their memory cards.
Despite these concerns, companies continue to add more and more mobile phones as time goes on. There has also been a noticeable shift in corporate phone policies in recent years. Previously, most companies provided their users with specific phones, usually based on one operating system. Now, many companies are allowing users (continue reading...)