With mobility the order of the day, all the security holes and compliance issues that companies have spent the last decade fixing have been opened up again, making mobile device security one of the biggest challenges facing South African companies.
"Nowadays, it is hard to find a mobile phone that isn't Internet- and e-mail-enabled. Workers at all levels of enterprise are using mobile devices and phones to conduct their work. This opens up company networks to security threats as they have no control over the devices which employees are using to access company resources, store business-related information or transact with customers.
"In fact, we are seeing a very similar problem to the one which the advent of USB data storage devices brought about. Users are able to move intellectual property from the company-owned infrastructure and onto their own devices. Organisations are on the back foot because the data that they invest in securing is no longer where it has always been, secure in a data centre. Instead, it is in the ether on mobile devices that in many cases aren't even the property of the organisation.
"Companies are becoming more aware of these risks and aligned to this, more and more businesses are seeking to implement proper mobile device strategies, as well as solutions for managing the vast array of devices at play in the typical organisation," says Elna du Plessis, MDM channel manager at Securicom, a specialist IT security company which partnered with Blue Turtle Technologies earlier this year to deliver the world-leading mobile device management (MDM) solution from Zenprise to companies in Africa.
Zenprise's MobileManager Platform is the only end-to-end, enterprise-grade mobile device management solution currently available. It boasts advanced security features and comprehensive tools for managing mobile devices across an enterprise, supporting every major smart mobile device platform, including iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile. It can be delivered on-premises, in the public cloud, or in hybrid cloud deployments in both bring-your-own-device and company-issued-device scenarios.
Through their partnership, Securicom and Blue Turtle can offer it as an on-premises solution, or deliver it as a cloud-based IT security service/fully-managed, locally-hosted service. The demand for the service is such that Securiom and Blue Turtle have launched a partner programme to establish a channel for the solution and empower credible partners to help address the demand quickly.
According to Du Plessis, Securicom uses Zenprise's Mobile Maturity Model to classify companies according to their level of adoption of mobile devices and associated security and management technologies. It also uses the model as a tool to educate customers on utilising the technology to effectively and securely enable mobility in the businesses, depending on where they stand in the model.
Companies are categorised as:
* Unmanaged, where employees are allowed to use their own personal devices for work and there is no active mobile device management;
* Managed, where employees are using their own devices for work but the company has implemented basic MDM functionality such as device lock, wipe clean and life cycle management;
* Advanced, where there is an MDM solution in place to secure devices and manage applications, network access, data, policies and processes; or
* Optimised, where MDM has been enabled for enterprise-grade performance and security.
Core MDM, or basic maturity, relates to the management of a mobile device. As companies mature, they start focusing more on the data and security of the device (advanced), with the "Utopia" being to get to mobile business optimisation (optimised) where mobile devices can create revenue for the organisation.
Du Plessis says most SA companies are stuck at the unmanaged level of the model as they have a mobile blind-spot and don't understand what their vulnerabilities are or what threats they face.
"Many companies are doing the basics and some are dabbling in the optimised space with application development, but they are neglecting security. Companies that have solid IT governance practices in place for the rest of the IT ecosystem are normally more mature on mobility.
"Companies can't neglect mobile security as it is the key to effectively and securely empowering mobility. Companies need to be in the same position with mobile devices as they are with workstations and laptops. That is at the advanced stage of the model. Few South African companies are there and that's why we are seeing such a dramatic move towards more effective MDM," he says.
A cloud-based MDM solution is the easiest and fastest way for companies to gain visibility and control of a plethora of mobile devices in the enterprise, whether company-owned or employees' personal phones. It's also easier to manage costs while enjoying access to qualified support.
"Given the status quo, companies in South Africa still have a lot to learn about MDM. So we expect that there will continue to be a shift towards cloud-based MDM solutions that are quick to deploy, flexible, scalable and easy to use," he concludes.
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