Ways to Secure Your Company's Mobile Devices

Modern business requires modern technology. Almost every other business is now seeking different forms of technology to operate business functions. The use of mobile phones has become an integral part of every business now. We cannot deny that mobile technology has become essential for every modern business these days.

Most companies hand over company-owned mobile devices to their employees once they join the office. Apart from mobile phones, employers also hand over computers, laptops, and even vehicles to employers to make their job easier.

As mobile phones store a lot of important and confidential business information, no company would want to risk that data. Sometimes, employee negligence may lead to risking sensitive business information. On the other hand, it can become difficult to judge employees who may have evil intentions towards the company and may bring harm to the company’s reputation and financial stability.

In such cases, it is important for every company to look for ways to secure the mobile devices being used by the employees and in the workplace. You may think of knowing how to monitor on a cell phone without having it for free or adopting different other ways. Let us discuss some important steps to help improve the security of your company’s mobile devices.

Identify the Risks

There are different scenarios that can lead to the company’s mobile devices becoming compromised. Once you can identify the risks and get more information about them, you can take immediate steps to control them across all the mobile devices in your company. Let’s discuss those certain common scenarios that may put your mobile devices at risk.  

Loss or theft: Often employees tend to use the company’s mobile devices in public places. In those places, these devices are prone to get lost or stolen. In case the device is lost or stolen, the person who comes across the device can have access to all the sensitive business information, credentials, and systems stored in the device.

Being noticed: Sometimes, employees may use their mobile devices in public areas such as libraries, airports, malls, or coffee shops where they can be easily observed by others. They may never know who is keeping an eye on them and watching all their activity.

Hacking or tampering: Cybercriminals and expert online hackers may attempt to sabotage all the security controls and try to hack the mobile device of an employee by installing some malicious software on it. This usually happens when the employee has forgotten to install antivirus software on their device, thus making the device vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Enable Password Protection

It is very important to enable password protection to all your company’s mobile devices. If a mobile device is protected with an appropriate pin or complex password, it will become less likely to be hacked or attacked by an expert online hacker. No average criminal will be able to access your phone if it’s protected with a password.

The good news is that all new and latest mobile devices now include facial recognition or fingerprint to lock and unlock the devices, without the need for a pin or password. An employee can simply lock or unlock his/her phone using the facial recognition feature or fingerprint sensor.

Therefore, employers must make sure that all the mobile devices their employees are using in the workplace must enable password protection on their devices as a security measure.

Download Track, Trace and Wipe Tools

For the majority of mobile devices being used in your company, you can download free web-based tools that allow you to track, trace, or even wipe the device entirely in case it gets lost or stolen. By downloading and installing these tools on your employee’s device, you can prevent the company’s sensitive information and user credentials from going into the wrong hands.

It’s also important to back up all the credentials and essential information stored on all the mobile devices so that they aren’t in danger of being lost or stolen on a single device.

Keep Devices and Apps Updated

The manufacturers of mobile devices release system updates regularly that include important security revisions for their devices. With every new update that they release, they tend to remove and fix the security flaws and loopholes that existed in the previous versions.

Running the new updates on mobile devices is quick and free. You can also set the mobile devices to update automatically. So, you should keep the mobile devices up to date with the latest security updates and versions so that they are less likely to become compromised or hacked by an outsider.

The same goes for mobile apps. You should always use the latest versions of the apps that you install on mobile devices and regularly update these apps with the patches that app developers release. It is also recommended to download new apps only from official, reliable, and trustable sources.

Use Employee Monitoring Software

Another important step that you can take to protect your company’s mobile devices from employee fraud and negligence is installing reliable and professional employee monitoring software. Mobistealth is a fine example of employee monitoring software as it lets you keep track of their phone calls, text messages, emails, web browsing history, social media activity, and location.

With the phone monitoring app, you can also find out how much time an employee is spending on the internet, what sites they are visiting, what apps they are using, etc. What’s more, you can also track your employee’s whereabouts and see what places they are visiting during working hours.

Use Antivirus Software

Antivirus software should be installed on all the company’s mobile devices. Reputable and professional antivirus software should also be installed on the company’s computers and laptops. When you install antivirus solutions all across the devices in the workplace, you can protect your devices from unwanted intrusion. You can protect the business data from becoming compromised in any way. It’s important to carry out necessary research and only install reputable antivirus software in the business.