There is no doubt that the size, severity and complexity of cyber threats is increasing, and mobile applications and the Internet of Things (IoT) present a perfect opportunity for cybercrime.
According to the Information Security Forum (ISF), smartphones and other mobile devices are creating a prime target for malicious actors in the IoT: “The rapid uptake of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and the introduction of wearable technologies to the workplace will increase an already-high demand for mobile apps for work and home in the coming year. To meet this increased demand, developers working under intense pressure and on razor-thin profit margins will sacrifice security and thorough testing in favour of speed of delivery and low cost, resulting in poor-quality products more easily hijacked by criminals or hacktivists.”
Ilan Rubin, managing director, Wavelink, said, “Unexpected network challenges put businesses at risk by introducing security threats to company-approved devices and corporate information. They also take network bandwidth away from mission-critical business applications. Organisations need to be prepared for the potential risks of any app installed on a personal device that is used for work, or that is accessing the corporate network.
“With cybercriminals becoming more sophisticated and collaborative, it is impossible for IT departments that are short on skill, time or both to prepare for the next unknown security attack. It is critical for organisations to know their current security situation to be able to prepare for the unpredictable, and have the resilience to withstand unforeseen, high-impact events.”
According to the Aberdeen Group, to have real knowledge about your infrastructure, you must have end-to-end visibility that goes beyond knowing that your hardware is running. It must extend to enabling deep insight about the applications that are running on your network, who is accessing the network, and on what devices, and if the network and its systems are delivering high levels of performance. Armed with this deep visibility and actionable analytics, organisations can respond to security threats quickly before end-users are impacted.
Ilan Rubin said, “To prepare for the unknown, organisations should look for a solution that includes network management, access control and analytics. It should deliver end-to-end network and application visibility and control to ensure complete security and a superior user experience.”
Organisations should look for solutions that let them:
- see, understand and control enterprise and mobile app usage on the network at the unified wired and wireless edge, and from the data centre to the mobile edge
- identify popular application activity and contain the viral entity of certain apps before network bandwidth, performance, employee productivity or security are impacted
- take actions to enable, eliminate, permit and prioritise applications without degrading wireless performance.
Ilan Rubin said, “With the right network application insights, organisations can understand, see and control what is on the network today, and prepare for tomorrow’s mobile threat.”
About Wavelink
Wavelink specialises in the supply, marketing and support of a range of leading edge Enterprise Mobility and UC Solutions. Wavelink distributes a range of products from Spectralink, Fortinet, Extreme Networks, COBS, Digium, Polycom and Purple WiFi. For more information please contact Wavelink on 1300 147 000.
