A recent Network World article describes the new security vulnerabilities posed by the latest smartphone technologies — specifically the new, high-speed 4G mobile networks. Because today’s smartphones have processors, storage capacities and network connection speeds that nearly rival those of PCs, they are becoming increasingly subject to the same malware and security threats that have long afflicted the PC market.
4G makes the situation more accelerated…. And what will really accelerate the growth of mobile malware and spyware will be the volume of traffic that people will be able to use. Data usage will increase and there are going to be more places that will get infected.
This is expected to become a serious concern for enterprise IT, as more executives use smartphones — and the various apps downloaded to these phones — to access corporate data in and out of the workplace. The Network World article describes a number of tactics integral to protecting enterprise security in the presence of mobile devices, including:
- remote wipe functionality on all mobile devices, (in the event that a device is lost or stolen)
- native application control capabilities allowing IT to specify which apps are and aren’t permitted on a company network-connected device
Network World also notes that anti-malware technology specifically designed for these high-powered mobile devices is still in its infancy.
Tags: 4G, android, device security, hackers, iphone, malware, mobile-security, smartphone
