How do you see mobile device security evolving to handle new age threats?
The proliferation of mobile devices has driven greater freedom among employees, giving them access to data in any location at any time. Security, however, has not kept pace. Most organizations have a mobile security gap in which policies and security are not extended to mobile devices, despite the fact that these devices are accessing the same data and applications as laptops and desktops on the corporate network. In the presence of this mobile security gap, cybercriminals have a new, undefended point of entry into the corporate network, and we are beginning to see them take advantage of it.
Malnets have also grown in prominence. Can you briefly explain the threat posed by malnets?
Malnets are infrastructures embedded in the Internet that launch ongoing attacks against unsuspecting users. In other words, malnets are how users get infected and botnets are what user systems become once they are infected. In 2012, we observed a 200 percent increase in these malicious networks that were responsible for more than two-thirds of all web-based malware attacks. The use of malnets by cybercriminals to launch sustained attacks has turned malware into a highly lucrative business model that uses a combination of both massmarket and targeted threats to infect users or steal sensitive or proprietary information.
While no malnet servers are located physically in India, the reach of these infrastructures can be felt worldwide. It is just as easy for a malnet in Eastern Europe to target users in Germany or India. The unfettered growth in mobility has created new avenues of revenue for malnet operators. According to the IDG Global Mobility Study, 70 percent of employees surveyed access the corporate network using a personally owned smartphone or tablet. This access extends to business-critical applications as well. For example, 80 percent of employees access e-mails from their personal devices. As mobile devices increasingly become an entry point into the corporate network, malnet operators have started to target them. In the last six months of 2012, we were tracking eight malnets that targeted mobile devices, three of which targeted mobile devices exclusively.
Why should enterprises adopt BYOD?
BYOD represents a significant opportunity for businesses to unlock in terms of greater productivity, efficiency and engagement across employees, customers and partners. In fact, when it is done the right way, BYOD can help drive business goals, such as reducing costs associated with device change management, improving employee retention and changing how sales engages with prospective customers. To realize these benefits, businesses need to close the mobile security gap by enabling access to corporate assets with appropriate policies and security controls.
Employees are now willing to buy their own devices, maintain them, and even trade them in much more frequently than an organization would. This is a stark contrast from a few years ago where employees expected their employers to provide devices. The benefit from this alone should be enough to make organizations want to embrace BYOD. The reluctance to adopt a posture on BYOD ultimately limits the ability of an organization to innovate, drive greater productivity and engage with key stakeholders. It becomes a missed opportunity, and potential competitive disadvantage, for businesses that choose to prevent employees from using their own devices. ‘Mobile security gap giving undefended point of entry for cybercriminals’
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