Learn about the Technology Decisions and Security Challenges Faced For Enabling BYOD in Enterprises

BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) has apparently become a crucial requisite for enhancing the productivity of an enterprise. Though, along with all the benefits BYOD gives, it has certain challenges and security angles to it.

Let us understand it in detail from Kiran DB, General Manager, Solution Sales, Microsoft India.

What are the technology decisions for enabling BYOD in enterprises?

A significant percentage of the working population is using some form of a personal handheld or portable technology for communications, information, and entertainment at the workplace. Productivity at work is fast becoming location agnostic as employees are demanding increased control and convenience.

Employers, as well as CIOs, recognize that the implementation of a BYOD-based IT policy can augment employee productivity by a significant margin.

However, companies need to make key decisions in the scenarios to enable BYOD and how to protect their corporate data. Enterprise mobility security is now more important than ever.

Prior to adopting BYOD, companies should focus on:

• Develop strong IT policies – Critical for companies to create parameters around the use of BYOD devices and set allowable use and decide the activities that will be permitted to be performed on the devices and the type of data that will be accessed.
• Employee Training - Getting your workforce to understand the privacy risks, requirements, terms and rules around device security, especially BYOD devices, is essential.
• Keeping an inventory of devices – Unauthorized devices shouldn’t be allowed to connect or only provisionally from where they can be monitored.

What are the security challenges enterprises face with the implementation of BYOD at workplaces?

With the rise of BYOD trend, companies want to provide benefit to their employees of accessing company’s data on their personal devices- laptops or phones, while also giving them the advantage to work outside company’s network system.

On one hand, this enables employees to work remotely and increase productivity by giving them the option to work from anywhere- be it home or outside, but the trend also raises an alarming concern for companies to secure confidential company data.

Organization face challenge of policy enforcement to build stringent IT policies to continuously monitor these devices and employees’ behaviour. Many organizations use automated remote wipe feature, which erases data from mobile devices when specific policies aren't followed, or a user tries to log on to a system unsuccessfully within few attempts.

The theft of mobile phones/ laptops also poses a challenge for companies to ensure the safety of companies’ crucial data saved in these devices. Also, considering personal devices are more prone to malware; since employees access many consumer sites and apps, increasing the possibility of virus attack.

Therefore, companies are investing and making it mandatory for people to use anti-malware software for employee-owned devices. Increasing use of apps has also aggravated this issue. When people add applications on their smartphones, it asks for access to their memory card, contact details etc. This can cause data compromise and pose a serious security threat, eg: financial data.

Educating the employees about security concern and data protection policies of the company is another major challenge organizations face today. Many employees, despite understanding the importance of data protection, do not adhere to companies’ data policies or take measures to avoid any such situation.

How does Microsoft ensure data security for enterprises? Please detail out the Microsoft solutions in the Enterprise mobility space.

The rapid growth of enterprise apps and complexity to protect company data has changed the way companies implement easy-to-use identity and devices solutions. Designed for employees to remain flexible and productive, Microsoft’s Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) suite ensures that corporate data is secure.

Aligning with Microsoft’s vision of IT that focuses on the person and not just the device, EMS is a comprehensive suite from Azure Active Directory Premium, Microsoft Intune, Azure Information Protection, Cloud App Security, Azure Advanced Threat Protection & Advanced Threat Analytics.

Azure Active Directory Premium

Azure Active Directory Premium provides single sign-on to thousands of cloud (SaaS) apps and access to web apps you run on-premises. Built for ease of use, Azure Active Directory Premium features:

• Conditional access to corporate applications.
• Collaborate securely with partners and customers.
• Identity protection
• Privilege Identity Management
• Self-service password reset to reduce help desk calls
• Multi-factor authentication options for greater security
• Group-based provisioning and single sign-on for thousands of SaaS apps.
• Enhance security and respond to advanced threats in real time

Microsoft Intune

Intune provides mobile device management, mobile application management, and PC management capabilities from the cloud. Using Intune, organizations can provide their employees with access to corporate applications, data, and resources from virtually anywhere on almost any device, while helping to keep corporate information secure. Built to secure apps and devices, Microsoft Intune features:

• Mobile application management and Mobile device management across devices
• Broad device support for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows and Windows Phone devices
• Selective wipe of apps and data for greater security

Azure Information Protection

Azure information protection is designed to classify, label, protect and safely share nearly any type of file to any PC, phone, or tablet and making it easy to share protected files inside or outside your organization. Azure Rights Management features:

• Automated or Manual Classification for most known file types
• Protection for any file type with Document tracking and revocation
• Information protection from the cloud or in a hybrid model with your existing on-premises infrastructure
• Integration into your native applications with an easy-to-use SDK

Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics

Reduce the risk of costly damage and gets all the information a succinct, real-time view of the attack timeline. All the intelligence to learn, analyze, and identify normal and suspicious user or device behaviour is built-in. The features include:

• Big-data analysis of anomalous behaviour and suspicious activities
• Detection of malicious attacks
• Alerts for known risks

Microsoft’s EMS is the most comprehensive and complete platform for organizations to embrace mobility and cloud trends. EMS is the only solution that has combined all of the capabilities needed to fully enable users in this new, mobile, cloud-enabled world.

Cloud App Security

Microsoft Cloud App Security is a CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) that can help you bring the protection you have on-premises to your cloud apps, gaining comprehensive visibility, auditing capabilities, and granular controls to help ensure your sensitive data stays safe. The features include:-

• Discovery and risk assessment
• Information protection
• Conditional access
• Threat detection

Azure Advanced Threat Protection

Azure Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is a cloud service that helps protect your enterprise hybrid environments from multiple types of advanced targeted cyber attacks and insider threats. Azure ATP technology detects multiple suspicious activities, focusing on several phases of the cyber-attack kill chain including:

• Reconnaissance, during which attackers gather information on how the environment is built, what the different assets are, and which entities exist. They generally build their plan for the next phases of the attack.
• Lateral movement cycle, during which an attacker invests time and effort in spreading their attack surface inside your network.
• Domain dominance (persistence), during which an attacker captures the information allowing them to resume their campaign using various sets of entry points, credentials, and techniques.

What are the benefits of Microsoft Enterprise + Security solutions?

With its EMS suite, Microsoft provides a comprehensive and complete platform for organisations to embrace enterprise mobility in this new mobile first, cloud first world.

Specifically, EMS provides:

• Simple and secure identity management solutions - Centrally manage identities across datacenter and the cloud
• Holistic and innovative security—on-premises and in the cloud
• Mobile device management and mobile application management
• Persistent information security for sensitive data on-premises and on cloud
• Simplify desktop and application virtualization

Overall, Microsoft has been a key vendor in the device management space for over twenty years with deep and trusted experience building enterprise-grade, scalable, flexible and comprehensive management products.

What are the technologies to look forward to 2018 that will further impact Enterprise mobility in its contribution to digital transformation for companies?

Key technological trends to rule 2018 impacting Enterprise Mobility are:

• Artificial Intelligence- AI will have a huge impact on how businesses work in the future. AI-based security software will be increasingly invaluable as the rise of BYOD and the IoT continues. Easier access to internet connection and faster penetration of smart devices have skyrocketed the growth of IoT. In 2018, businesses will largely depend on IoT-enabled devices to have access to huge data for making informed business decisions.

• Conversational platforms- Chatbots and other conversational platforms will play an increasingly important role within the enterprise. By using AI during that initial conversation, business will be able to filter out those smaller tasks and save time for their employees.

• Location-based services- Service businesses are the most beneficial ones due to the advent of location-based service applications. This trend is likely to grow more and even stronger in the forthcoming years. In an era of smart devices, anyone can be tracked, traced, and serviced in a highly connected intelligent network.

• Cloud computing products- Affordability, reliability, and availability of cloud services gain popularity in the market as the best enterprise solution to resolve a plethora of issues. Its groundbreaking potential for big data is the reason for enterprises to turn toward cloud-computing services. Besides security issues, cloud computing is growing and reaching new heights because of the utmost convenience it offers to the businesses.