Mobile Computing and Security Risks

The fact that there are laws that ban texting while driving paints a clear picture of relationship with our devices, saying it all. The constant real-time flow of information has got us all hooked and is the reason why we need laws to remind us of the obvious don'ts.

It is clear from the present scenario that cloud and mobile computing are some of the most significant technology developments over the last 5 decades. Organizations must be smart about adoption to the mobile cloud service. There is no room for error as the slightest of issues unattended can leave your organization exposed to increased risk.

Here's why you should pay more attention before adopting the mobile cloud services.

Make Policies... A Lot Of Them

There are a number of things that need your attention, so specificity and attention to detail is a must. Organizations need to have plans, standard protocols for the cases of unlikely events. The need for this is to avoid the blame game later on between workers and the company, which is absolutely no good for anybody.

There have been cases where unclear guidelines have been the source of cases filed against the company by the workers, so it is best to avoid them by stating clear policies before adopting the mobile cloud service.

Who's responsible?

Organizations that allow their workforce to work on the move with their mobile devices should have guidelines that do involve them over any incident that the employees have while using the company issued device.

The main issue to address here is to have clear do's and don'ts and specific guidelines on usage of these devices.

Where's your data

Organizations need to identify and keep track where their private data resides, irrespective of the fact if the employees use a company issued devices or personal hardware. Tracking and maintaining are a crucial part of the process as the data could be stored in the data center, or in the cloud or elsewhere thus making it imperative for organizations to keep tabs on the data all the time.

To identify this problem quickly, continuous network monitoring and comparison scans for unknown devices is needed, as this enables the organization to collect detailed information on the new devices on the network.

Access Denied

Employees love their apps, but it is their affinity to the said apps that can prove catastrophic for the company. There are certain apps like Skydrive, Dropbox etc that provide a cloud based data sharing platform. It is because of such apps that the organization needs to create a list of approved applications which are safe to use beyond the company issue software.

The act of creating such a list assures that the new purchases will not be creating new compatibility or security issues with the current network. Furthermore, new processes should be introduced that make it quick to approve and deny new applications.

E-Crime

A recent survey has found that the mobile cloud is the most significant potential risk of E-crime to their business. With a whopping 92% claiming that the mobile cloud is the biggest threat, it is mandatory for organization to implement security measures for the mobile cloud users as well.

Conclusion

Mobile cloud is a blessing for workers and organizations both, making work possible much easier than before. And to let this blessing not turn into a curse, proper polices and guidelines must be issued.

As the industry uses more cloud services with each day, they should find the time to address the risks that come along with all the benefits.