eHDF's Blog

Monday, 22 August 2016 Blog ehdf

Keep Your Company Data Safe by Securing your Mobile Workforce

Owing to its many business benefits, including enhanced productivity, mobile computing has become a fast emerging trend and is growing exponentially. There are, however, measures that organizations need to take to ensure that the company data being accessed outside the office premises is secure and not vulnerable to risks.

Here are a few simple tips to ensure that your mobile workforce stays secure and does not fall into the trap of losing confidential company information:

1.Organizations need to sketch a framework of policies that are detailed, and addresses to a wide range of mobile devices – mobiles, laptops, PDAs, smart phones etc.

2.Create an awareness program to make the policies known within the organization. The staff must be told about the security implications of mobile devices, and what actions will be taken if the policies are ignored

3.Never rely on techniques or products that allow the users to make security decisions. All security settings should be maintained and controlled centrally

4.Do not allow staff to connect their personal devices to the company network. It is a good practice to give them company owned PDAs

5.Another control measure would be to identify who in the company is in need of remote access to company information. An example, out of 100 employees, industry statistics show that only 10 of them really need to access company information remotely

6.Standardize on a few brands of devices and support only a few operating systems. Too many devices and operating systems will multiply your worries!

7.Use a virtual private network (VPN) on top of wired equivalent privacy to connect to the internal network. Keeping one-time passwords for opening VPN connections is a good idea

To summarize, disable unwanted features where possible and enforce best practices where necessary. Ensure users understand the importance of the security policy and are aware of the consequences of bypassing the guidelines and creating a potential or real security breach.