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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