The CIO's Guide To Mobile Security

Today's enterprise and government organizations increasingly support the use of mobile (wireless) devices by their employees. Executives, managers, contractors, suppliers and other corporate employees are connecting their wireless devices to corporate email servers: sales teams need access to customer and order information held within their company CRM systems; field technicians need to receive and interact with service information; and managers require timely access to critical business data from their business intelligence system. Across organizations, users seek to improve their productivity through the access of corporate data from mobile devices.

At the same time, enterprise and government organizations often underestimate the potential security risks of using wireless devices. Organizations need to approach securing wireless devices in the same way that they approach securing the wired components of the corporate local area network (LAN), such as servers, desktop computers and laptop computers. Organizations can establish an overall infrastructure for security that includes wireless devices by installing security features on the devices and implementing appropriate security policies. While implementing security solutions is critical, the unique challenge facing those tasked with wireless security is the direct impact of security measures on the user experience. Creating a secure environment on a mobile device often requires additional device processing power, storage, and battery life. This means that, as a mobile device becomes more secure, it places greater strain on its resources, which affects the performance of the device.

This document examines six key mobile computing security concerns that an IT department should consider when evaluating a wireless solution.