Policy Advisor

There are three standard options for introducing and working with mobile devices in the workplace, depending on who owns and operates the equipment. We break down the advantages and disadvantages and common arguments for each of these.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD): The Crowd Pleaser

That is by far the most popular approach to mobilization in the workplace, and with security measures improving, the adoption will be more widespread by the hour. North America leads the way where about 50% of companies have adopted a BYOD policy. More cautiously, but Western European companies are also becoming open to such a concept, although corporate accounts still owned the majority (61%) of business smartphones in 2015. With the abundance of devices out there and the convenience they mean to employees, however, the BYOD trend is only likely to gain more ground.

For small businesses, the cost-savings achievable with such a policy are too tempting. The employee buys the hardware itself. The voice and data service costs are billed to their names. The business doesn’t have to sign long and inconveniently binding contracts with carriers. In a recent report, Cisco estimated a USD 350 of savings for every employee, every year, for every business with a BYOD-policy in place.

Of course, properly managing the secure and steady operation of these devices and the corporate apps them is an ongoing challenge. Businesses, especially the ones with fewer resources, need to educate themselves on the security and troubleshooting of the used devices.

Choose Your Own Device (CYOD): The Golden Middle

A relatively new twist to the BYOD-concept is CYOD, or Choose Your Own Device, that aims to improve the control the IT-departments have over the corporate mobile security. With CYOD, the ownership of the device is a secondary question. Companies choosing this policy give priority to creating a more homogenous fleet of devices by presenting a set of options for the employees to choose from. This way, they can better control the support and security of these devices.

CYOD definitely puts some financial burden on the corporation as it has to create a budget for the purchase of some devices. The corporate purchasing process also makes the implementation times longer than BYOD. But if the employee already owns an approved type of device, it is cost saving already. Not to mention the other positive consequence of such a policy: engagement that comes from the possibility of choosing a device that suits the worker.

Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled (COPE): The Ultimate Control

Regardless of the apparent advantages of the above mentioned two policies, a corporate-owned mobile fleet is still the standard at large firms. Why? It would be too much to keep an eye on all the issues that stem from the variety of mobile gadget types.

The very existence of a mobile fleet in a large corporation automatically induces the necessity of mobile device management and a mobile app management system in place, but at least these solutions don’t have to deal with different operating systems, a thousand different sets of apps, and the same amount of security vulnerabilities.

As for cost savings, supplier contracts can be negotiated en mass and based on quantity and make all those services (data, repairs, etc.) a little less expensive. The fleet contracts, on the other hand, have the drawback of being binding even when the technology or the service level should be updated.

Role-based Selection: The Pragmatic

Many times, it’s not even about the costs or the security that defines the options for the mobilization of the workforce, rather than the role of the workers. In certain positions, like in construction or at utilities, it is a requirement that a mobile device is resistant to environmental impacts: hence the category of ruggedized tablets and mobiles.

Other times, the expectations that drive such purchases are more subtle. It can be the case of personal banking sales agents making a better impression by presenting on an iPad than on an Android device. It can be that real estate agents continuously need to take high-resolution photos or retailers have to have a versatile barcode-reader available at all times, and these functions might all prompt the use of specific devices.

“How Do We Pay For It?”

As far as company-owned devices go, laptops still lead the way over real mobility enablers like smartphones or tablets. But the fact that corporations mainly spend on laptops doesn’t mean the other devices are not widely used – they are just mostly purchased and owned by the employees.

Once the company has decided that a CYOD or COPE policy is the way to go, it has to deal with more sweet little details and the time-consuming nature of purchasing.

Financing options are not as many as the devices on the market, but with a frugal approach, businesses tend to make savvier decisions. Moreover, price sometimes is of lower importance to companies that have to consider so many factors, many of them industry-specific. Software support or repairs and replacement, for examples, can make or break a deal.

However, to reach an acceptable price, businesses more often sign long-term contracts with device suppliers and service providers. Phones with SIM cards that tie them to a fixed provider have also been the standard for the business sector, and that’s only started to change recently.

So what do purchasing departments consider when planning the budget for mobilization? First, they set the priorities: whether it’s a particular type of device, network availability, low monthly fee, or high amount of data.

Other than spending a specific amount of the budget on devices as a one-time purchase, they can be leased to the company and forwarded to the workers as COPE. Another option is to sign a hardware compensation agreement with the employees within CYOD and give a certain amount of allowance for hardware purchases.

Next comes the service level setting: depending on the provider, data usage, warranty and servicing options, support availability, and flexible modifications choices might have an impact on the monthly service price.

So Many Devices, So Long Deployment

The deployment of a mobile fleet will depend on the first policy option a company has chosen.

BYOD takes off the business’ shoulders a considerable task: selecting (and paying for) the devices. And puts there another: the management. With the workers, all using their mobile gadgets, the deployment of a mobility strategy is about finding a common ground to manage all of those tools. Establishing the basic rules of usage and secure corporate identity with role-specific access for the employees is the first step. In fact, it also a must in creating a safe and controlled mobile environment. Device management can then be fine-tuned by adding dedicated support or other services.

Putting mobile device management (MDM) in place is a way to make sure lost or stolen gadgets or using not secure apps don’t lead to corporate data leakage. One step further, an enterprise mobility management (EMM) tool also creates a secure environment for system and app updates. The point is to keep the onboarding process as simple as possible for the employees, to be able to profit from it.

CYOD requires the same approach when deploying: having a go-to place for administration and control of security, with the facilitation of having fewer device types to manage. From a deployment perspective, a COPE model is the easiest yet also the longest. The IT department has a massive heads-up by knowing what devices, what operating systems, and what apps they have to keep an eye on. They can do all installations and security settings in bulk. They can make sure everything is working before the employees even get the devices. And they only have to be prepared to maintain a public pool of tools.

Thoroughness Pays Off

Making purchasing decisions is hard and, in the case of mobility, it ultimately comes down to how much the company is willing to pay for security. Or, how much of that security is it willing to sacrifice for being among the first to mobilize.

For large corporations, it is not even a question if they allocate a budget for the control of their mobile fleet. But this budget should be completed with the awareness of the latest technology worth investing in and the management options that make the everyday operations of the mobile workforce safe for the company.  

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AI and AR Will Extend Our Mobile Boundaries

The rise of artificial intelligence didn’t even leave business mobiles untouched: it has made its way to the workplace. Its capabilities of predicting decisions in basic scenarios have already proved to be an essential addition to the arsenal of efficiency-boosting methods, and some predict it will be everywhere by 2022.  

AI will only gain further ground because of its analytics capabilities in 2018, as businesses increasingly feel pressured to use their data assets. The Internet of Things (IoT) is making the data situation only more pressing. With streamlining business processes, AI can be another excellent tool for savings costs. Meanwhile, the networks are being strengthened with 5G to be able to provide the analysis and insights in the shortest possible timeframes.

We are still to see, though, in 2018, where augmented reality (AR) will lead our businesses. There are some obvious applications in the utility sector or in retail that are already taking shape, and the software part of the equation is well-covered anyway. One important thing is still lacking, though: a proper headset, that would make business put AR in practice (of course Apple and others are working hard already on solving this problem).

On the other hand, the user experience is evolving in many different ways, too. Mobile has the most significant impact of all, prompting the transformation of corporate websites to mobile-first format and progressive web apps. The voice/speaking and chat options penetrate all interfaces, making getting work tasks done and team collaboration easier – thus improving overall efficiency.

Services in the Cloud and Other Locations

In the age of ubiquitous connection, offering location-based services is one of the most promising areas of development. For enterprise mobility, it means being able to track workers everywhere, all the time, and helping them with that. Wherever a problem emerges, the office workers can have the backs of their field colleagues: think maps, blueprints, instructions, client data. All employees can save time by using geo-tagged photos and indoor navigation to products in a store or service stations in an office, as popular examples.

Similarly, selected information can be made available to clients, allowing them to see whether the maintenance worker is on the way or the sales agent is in a place where he can be available for a call. Customers in specific areas can be shown particular promotions or offered specific benefits or discounts.

Cloud services are also on the rise like never before, due to the significant service price drops and the ever-growing popularity of BYOD – smartphones flooding the workplaces. But businesses have also realized that not every type of data is worth to be trusted to the cloud, so, for security reasons, we will likely see the on-premise storages remain in place for the most business-critical information.

Security Threats in 2018

New devices, new operating systems, new (consumer) apps – they all pose a threat in the workplaces increasingly relying on BYOD (again). Security experts warn that accessing corporate data with poorly secured consumer devices and apps can be one of the most significant challenges to the IT-departments this year.

One solution to these pains can be AI itself, with its capabilities of recognizing misuse and signs of breach earlier. The protection will have to be set to prevent the data from leakage, like scanning new apps for these properties. But sometimes even that is not enough, like in the case of phishing and other elaborate methods of hacker trickery, against which further training of employees can be a viable solution.

Surprisingly, ransomware is not at all that common of a threat than one would imagine – most breaches we hear about happen on desktops instead. Mostly because app stores do a proper job screening new applications and enterprise apps apparently don’t contain malware, and those are the ways people get their software. On desktops, it is easier for hackers to hide a malicious piece of code and cause significant trouble.

All that doesn’t mean, though, that businesses don’t have to be alert to such options on mobiles. The continuous evolvement of malware (especially ransomware) techniques makes them a real threat if once an efficient way of installing them on mobiles is found.

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Should security be one of your primary concerns, too, we give you a realistic overview of the threats and also some useful tips on how you can protect your business from such attacks. And not only on the good old desktop: as smartphones are on the way to become the most used devices in the workplace, you need to get ready to protect them as well!

Business desktops under attack again

Malicious code that blocks access to data or a whole computer by encrypting the files seems a successful recipe for easy money and extensive media attention. They provided an opportunity to talk digital security strategies good and bad as WannaCry hit corporations like Renault, Deutsche Bahn, and FedEx, and a reinvented version of Petya made its way to Russian and Ukrainian banks, Maersk, and WPP.

And this is not ‘just’ about the desktops anymore. With less publicity, attacks such as Fusob, Svpeng, and SMALL, also threatened mobile devices and systems  – just to mention a few. Enterprise mobility is no safe territory, anymore, and the vulnerability goes further than a weak endpoint: we’re talking about personal consumer devices storing or accessing company data.

Corporate security strategies revised

The broad reach of attacks forced many companies to alter their security policies regarding user control, transparency, the IT-departments’ role, and general awareness, especially as more and more enterprise software has its mobile version developed.

The risks can no longer be denied: there is much to do about:

• A workforce that is increasingly mobile but not necessarily more experienced in protecting corporate data.
• The volume and types of devices used in a workplace and how these devices handle data.
• Reshuffling IT’s priorities: taking security measures, educating a wider group of stakeholders.
• Analysing all the possible effects of a data breach on the business.

Besides the prevention measures mentioned above, you will also need protection. For example, anti-virus software makers are also adding their part in preparing for more assistance and expanding even more in the mobile space.

Symantec was the last to make the news with two recent acquisitions: the Israeli Skycure with a focus on predictive threat detection, and Fireglass with a browser isolation technology that helps to stop the spreading of malware.

VMWare has partnered up with Trend Micro to provide better protection against mobile attacks. It does that by allowing IT-administrators to get a birds-eye view of their (ever-growing) network, quickly identify threats, and make more informed decisions based on what they saw.

Securing mobile business applications in a future-proof way

The first step is to accept that every business is at risk: big or small, with or without a field team, working on any operating system. Also, every application is vulnerable to some extent. Then, take time to understand your current type and level of protection, so you’ll know what you’re missing: this way, you can react faster in case of an attack.

More focus on user behavior

In protecting your data in association with mobile apps, user behavior is crucial. From this perspective, your Millennial workforce might be the more at risk.

With a security awareness training, you can educate your staff about best practices, such as regularly updating the apps they use and the safety implications of sending mobile data through public wireless networks.

The best business mobile apps update themselves automatically for more protection, but it’s always worth to double-check.

Application control

As apps are becoming more and more dominant in the modern workplace, their integration becomes more important as well. The anti-virus software, the MDM or EMM should all work together in stopping any possible attacks and allow for maximum security.

Solutions that are independent of the location of the data, like precisely setting access rights and multi-level identification app by app, generally work well.

The successful combination of these methods might vary by company, but the goal is clear: to pass the five security checkpoints of a secure mobile business app. These checkpoints are the following:

• Secure code. Developers use encryption, audits, reviews, testing, approval processes to make sure no malicious code could appear.
• Secure data. Proper and up-to-date encryption of data ensures protection against misuse.
• Secure access. Role-based access provides an extra layer of security to passwords.
• Secure communication. The mobile app and the back-end should communicate with proper encryption and authentication protocols, like SSL/TLS.
• Secure third-party services. The risk of each provider should be assessed and their security and risk management program revised.

If you are aware of the industry standards, best practices, and user-generated issues that might have an impact on security, you have already taken a big step forward in securing your mobile business apps.

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