Business mobile phone security options

MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication)

If a business phone is lost or stolen it is a great risk to a business if it is found and accessed by someone with malicious intentions. Most smart phones offer for users to set up the standard password, pin, face identification, or fingerprint as a devices first line of defence and they will think it is protected, however, they aren’t as protected as an employee might think. With Multi-Factor Authentication used wherever it can be, an employee can have that extra layer of security and focus more on their job at hand, rather than worrying about possible cyber threats.

Antivirus Software

Antivirus software is built to find malicious viruses and remove them straight away before they can do serious harm to a device. The biggest risk to a business mobile is if it used for work and personal reasons and that is how most security threats occur. Phishing emails are another big risk factor if they come through on an employee’s personal account because if successful, a hacker will have access to not only their personal data but all the business’ data. On a smartphone antivirus software should already be installed, however, for that extra layer of security it’s worth having an extra layer of software installed.

Matrix IT have defined three different cyber security packages for businesses with varying security requirements. Each package is designed to strengthen your IT security and give you peace of mind. To find out more, head to our Cyber Security page.

Updates

On smartphones, updates can sometimes contain security patches that users are unaware of but new updates hold the opportunity to resolve security concerns. Unfortunately, many updates aren’t automatic and have to be done manually by the user, so the time it takes from the update being ready to the employee actually updating their phone, the device is vulnerable to a cyber-attack. This is why it is extremely important for an employee with a business phone to always make sure that updates are complete.

Password Managers

Companies can’t stress enough how important it is to keep passwords secure but we know that there’s always going to be that one employee that will keep their easy to guess passwords somewhere obvious and unsecured like Notes in their phone, this is why password managers are so handy. Password managers are a place where you can keep all of your passwords stored in one place that is then protected by one ‘overall’ or ‘master password’ to make sure that no one else can access them. Some password managers also have a sharing tool to make it simple and safe to share your logins/passwords with another user who have an account with the same password manager.

Some password managers that Matrix recommends are:

• Dashlane
• BitWarden
• Keeper

Device Backup

There is always the risk that an employee may lose or have their business mobile has stolen but if the data on the device is backed up regularly (on the Cloud it can be backed up automatically) then in the event of loss of theft happening the company it belongs to still has access to the data that was stored on there.

Some of the top reasons for why a company should take the time to make sure all their work mobiles are backed up are:

• To make sure that none of the companies’ data is lost.
• To make sure that you have a quick recovery should anything be lost.
• To make sure you don’t have create any of the lost work again from memory.
•  To make sure that any data loss doesn’t affect the rest of the company and if it does then not for long.
• To make sure that you don’t have to always worry.

Here at Matrix, we have a Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery and Backup plan that will help you choose the right cloud technology for your individual business needs. To find out more you can read our Cloud Services brochure.

Avoiding Public Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi should be avoided whenever possible but unfortunately for quick access to the internet it’s useful because its free for everyone to use, however, once on the public connection a hacker can easily intercept the flow of incoming and outbound data or they use a method called ‘network spoofing’ where they can create fake Wi-Fi for you to connect to allowing them to get a hold of your data.

Granting Permissions

Most companies have procedures in place for when granting permissions for specific things but when it comes to the smaller things that may not seem like much of a concern, for instance, granting access to a device’s camera, photo gallery, contacts, fingerprints, and face ID. All things like this may slip through the net of priorities so an employee must always remain aware of what they are granting permissions to when working and ask themselves if that platform, app, or software really needs these permissions no matter how many times it will ask them.

Remote lock and data wipe policy

In the wrong hands a device with a company’s confidential data on it could be used to potentially harm the company, be leaked, or be sold to others who have malicious intent. Remote lock and data wipe policy allows a company to delete sensitive data from their devices remotely. Having this policy can give a company reassurance that they know that if one or more of their devices were to be taken that are able to have a fast response so that anything confidential can be kept away from prying eyes.