MobileIron: 1 in 10 Compromised Devices Accessing Enterprise Network

Mobility has changed the way many companies and their employees conduct business, improving productivity and enhancing the customer experience. But for some, those gains have come at a price to their network security.

According to a report by security vendor MobileIron, 1 in 10 enterprises has at least one compromised device accessing enterprise data. And more than 53 percent of enterprises have at least one device that is not in compliance with corporate security policies.

That’s bad on many levels: Not only does it push a company out of compliance with government regulations, but it also places a company’s entire network and data at risk for infection or, worse, data breach.

The MobileIron report, “State of App Security,” offers insights into how companies are using and protecting mobile apps, including blocking many consumer-grade productivity apps such as enterprise file sync and share (EFSS) services.

Indeed, the report noted that five of the top 10 consumer apps that are blacklisted by MobileIron customers are EFSS apps:

“Consumer versions of EFSS apps frighten IT departments because corporate data can wander away. Fortunately, enterprise versions of many of these apps are available,” said Mike Raggo, director of Security Research at MobileIron, in the release announcing the report. “Enterprises can give their employees the experience they want while protecting corporate data, but it requires a mindset shift from one of restriction to one of enablement.”

MobileIron’s report also ranked the top third-party apps in use by MobileIron’s customer base. They include:

In addition, the report noted, customers have deployed more than 300,000 apps that were built in-house for employee use.

“As more business processes are mobilized, hackers look to mobile apps to capitalize on enterprises’ inability to prevent and detect mobile threats,” Raggo said. “To protect sensitive data against the threats of tomorrow, enterprises need to rethink their security approach for a fundamentally different mobile architecture.”

It’s no surprise that security continues to be a great in for solution providers wanting to expand their area of expertise or increase their value-add. Stats such as these show mobile security may be an excellent mountain for those who haven’t decided where they want to plant their flag.