Mobile security is the protection of smartphones, tablets, laptops and other portable computing devices, and the networks they connect to, from threats and vulnerabilities associated with wireless computing. Mobile security is also known as wireless security.

From hackers point of view, mobile devices are just an organisation’s desktop. This makes them easy pickings to be hacked. With increasing numbers of people accessing and creating documents on the go through Office 365 and Google Apps, these devices now have an equal level of access to sensitive corporate information, and thus require equivalent protection.

This includes:

• Anti-malware and/or application whitelisting: Not only are app stores not as safe as they purport, applications can be side-loaded, and vulnerabilities such as BlueBorne have demonstrated that arbitrary code can be introduced through remote code execution vulnerabilities.
• Encryption of sensitive files: Even when users don’t use tablets and phones to store files, sensitive information can be insecurely cached from email, web and chat programs. Also users will often download a file for a review and forget that it is in their downloaded files folder. These can easily be used by criminals that either have remote or physical access to the mobile device.
• Device Management: The ability to push down software and enforce security policy (such as pin/password complexity) still remains as relevant today.