From HIPAA to PCI Standards, organizations of all sizes face regulations they must comply with, each with a stringent set of rules designed to protect consumers. And, in the age of the mobile workforce, these regulations require adequate management of mobile devices, applications, and users.
Consequently, many companies are left wondering how to make their mobile policies comply with the regulations that govern them.
So, while requirements vary across varying industries, whether or not your mobile device strategy is compliant often boils down to how you answer these 4 questions:
Do you have a mobile device management platform?
Most of the regulations require you to have specific platforms in place to manage mobile devices. While there are a lot of mobile device management platforms, many in-house IT professionals don’t have the required expertise to research these tools and implement the right one.
How are you controlling inventory?
Inventory needs to include all devices that are owned by the organization, as well as any devices that access the network or contain any kind of company information – even emails. Software is included in inventory control, as well. If you have users accessing sensitive information through applications, you may be required to maintain accurate inventory of those applications.
Can you authenticate users?
Authentication requirements are necessary to ensure that networks, applications, or devices are only accessed by the individuals who have the right to do so. For instance, banks are required to have protocols in place to ensure that someone can’t access another person’s account simply by stealing their mobile device.
Do you have the ability to remotely wipe devices?
If someone leaves your organization, what happens to the information that is already contained on their mobile devices? You should have the ability to remotely wipe company devices. For employees using their own device, you can partition a portion of their device for work and ensure that portion can be remotely wiped in the event they depart or lose their device.
Compliance with regulations requires a mobile infrastructure and the expertise to manage it. Your infrastructure should be secure enough to control users, applications, and devices but flexible enough to not restrict company movement. After all, what’s the point of having a mobile infrastructure if you can’t be mobile with it?