5 Biggest Mobile Security Threats of 2020

The COVID-19 Pandemic is forcing employees to work from their homes. The increased usage of mobile devices has made companies vulnerable. Attackers are looking for methods that will help them in hacking into mobile devices. Mobile devices are becoming more important with time. These tiny devices can contain business-confidential, critical, and sensitive data. In this article, we are going to talk about the 5 Biggest Mobile security threats of 2020.

1. SMSishing and Phishing

The phishing attacks are decreasing with time due to employee training and email filtering. However, phishing attacks on smartphones are still a big threat. Most users fall for mobile phishing attacks. These devices have a simple design. Thus, users don’t think before doing any action.

Mobiles apps are working on streamlining the available information for mobile devices. However, the main information is still not available on the mobile apps. You can’t use email apps for checking for the authenticity of an email. Also, you can’t check the authenticity of the website that you are visiting. Most email apps will only show you the sender’s name. They won’t even show you the email address. Thus, it is difficult to check for phishing emails. It is very difficult to check the security of the website that you are visiting.

Thus, your employees might end up downloading some malicious attachments. It is your employee’s responsibility to ensure that they are not opening any malicious email. They should always check all the emails from their main computer.

2. BYOD

Bring your own device policy simply means that your employees can use their personal devices for accessing your business data. This is mostly limited to checking emails only. However, most people are working from their homes now. Thus, they need to access more data for completing their work. BYODs can’t promise the same level of security level when compared to office security.

Most personal devices like mobile and laptops won’t use encryption. Your employees might never install anti-virus software in their system. They might be using an old OS that is vulnerable. Your users also don’t need to how to remotely locate your device and wipe the data. Thus, your data might get lost.

You can solve this problem is by limiting access to your company data. You should only use single-function apps like messaging or email service app. This will ensure that your sensitive business data will stay secure.

3. Malicious Applications

There are many malicious apps that look just like a legit app. These apps will be infected with spyware or malware. Thus, these apps can damage your data if your employees are not taking precautions.

These apps are mostly in fake or non-official application stores. Even attackers can upload their apps in these app stores. Thus, you should always use Google Play Store or Apple App Store for downloading apps.

You should avoid apps that have developers that are anonymous. It is important to ensure that you are reading the comments and reviews before downloading any app. If your users are using their company device, then you can restrict their usage. Make sure that they can download apps that are relevant to you.

4. Data leakage

Sometimes even legit apps with various permissions can damage your business. These permissions will help these apps in data leakage.

Every app will ask for permission when you will download it. You should check these permissions carefully before installing these apps. Many people will give far more permissions than the app needs.

Permissions are simply access privileges that apps need for completing their work. They might need to access your internal storage for storing data. If a camera app is asking for this permission, then it makes sense. However, weather apps don’t need access to your internal storage.

Many apps will ask for permission that they don’t need for completing their work. Developers will do this for gathering data from their user’s phones. They can collect your location data, emails, photos, and usage information. This information can be sold without you knowing. Thus, you should ensure that you are not storing private pictures or data on your phone.

5. Network connections

The best thing about mobile devices is that you can work from anywhere in the world. However, this freedom actually comes with many risks. If you are not at your office, then you can use public Wi-Fi for doing your work. This is a good idea if you are streaming music or video or playing online games. However, you should never use a public Wi-Fi network for accessing your sensitive data.

Attackers can easily steal data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks. You might think that you are joining a Starbucks network. However, it might be a fake network set up by some attacker. Network spoofing is very easy to do. Attackers can set up their own network with legit names like “Coffeehouse”. You might end up connecting to their network.

Also, secured public Wi-Fi networks are not protected. Attackers can easily find these networks and connect with them. They can use their tools for stealing data from other users.

The best way to deal with this problem is by never using a public Wi-Fi network for accessing your sensitive information. You should never use these public networks for logging into some websites or applications. These login credentials are very valuable and attackers can steal it. If you want to use a public Wi-Fi network, then you should always use a VPN network with time. This will ensure that your network and data are encrypted. The best option is to use a VPN that can connect with your business. However, a commercial VPN will also help you in solving this problem.

Conclusion

Cyber threats are evolving with time. It is important to protect your mobile devices from attackers. Most employees are working from their home and they are using their personal devices for accessing sensitive information. You should ensure that your employees are protecting your sensitive data from attackers. If you are confused about your security, then you should consider working with a good MSSP. Experienced MSSPs like Bleuwire can help you in protecting your business from attackers. If you need more information regarding IT security services, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.