Mobile Security: A Balancing Act

By Benjamin Wesson, Vice President of Product Management, Dexterra

Mobile computing has had an enormous positive effect on worker productivity worldwide. However, the flexibility, time savings and productivity gains that mobile computing affords must be balanced against inherent security risks. Some of these risks are obvious, such as the potential loss of company data from a stolen device or the possibility of data being intercepted in transit. Other risks from viruses/malware, over-privileged users and social engineering are often overlooked.

Yet despite the perceived importance of security, organizations are doing very little to secure mobile access—they're either waiting on the sidelines until viable security solutions present themselves or they're crossing their fingers and adopting a "hope for the best" approach. In fact, a recent survey of SearchMobileComputing.com members indicated that 31% of them have no mobile security policies in place at all.

Fortunately, enterprises can significantly improve their mobile security by utilizing a two-factor authentication scheme that verifies both the user's credentials along with the user's mobile device. Third-party soft token services from security providers such as VeriSign validates the user's identity thereby providing end-to-end security for mobile environments.