Security for BYOD is Difficult. The Solution is Smart, On-Device Data Management

By David Cohen, Mobolize | Chief Strategy Officer, Co-Founder

It’s no secret mobile devices are under attack by bad actors to access, steal or ransom corporate assets. As a result, there’s lots of information on how corporations should provide security for unmanaged, employee-owned devices, aka Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) as well as corporate-owned devices that include Mobile Device Management (MDM) software. Many articles claim that the mobile device security problem is solved if IT organizations provide company-owned devices with MDM software to all employees.

The truth is that the MDM approach, while high in security, is both costly and cumbersome to manage. Many corporations can’t afford providing and managing MDM devices for all employees, plus the server traffic required to route data is expensive. The BYOD solution has security challenges and devices that don’t have MDM software installed can be an open door for hackers. Installing MDM software on personal devices can negatively impact employee productivity. Not only are there software conflicts between business and personal apps but also employees don’t want their personal data to be sent to corporate servers.

So, what’s the answer for a cost-effective, secure and user-friendly solution? BYOD devices with smart endpoint device security. Security needs to reside on the endpoint and use intelligent traffic routing that keeps business and personal information separate. The other imperatives are cost management for the corporation, and high performance for the end users with limited impact on battery, latency and app compatibility.

My daughter is a perfect example of the issues employees have with BYOD. As a remote employee when traveling, she uses her laptop for complex communications including writing documents and long emails. She uses her tablet to review and respond to simpler email. She uses her smartphone to manage email, texts and phone calls while walking her dog. The challenge: MDM software causes many connectivity and management problems by interfering with key apps both corporate and personal. Plus, she doesn’t want her company to have access to her personal data.

Security on endpoint devices is required to protect corporate data. But the personal privacy of device owners also is key. How do you close the security gap and protect BYOD devices, employees and corporations?

The solution is intelligent endpoint security that routes traffic to its appropriate destination. Mobolize’s Data Management Engine provides fine-grain routing of any data packet across any network the device is connected. It routes all app and browser traffic to the appropriate place. Company traffic is securely sent to the company network. Personal traffic is securely sent to its intended destination. The Data Management Engine provides the highest level of endpoint security for corporations and improves the employee experience by managing connectivity and app interference issues while respecting user privacy. The result is a higher performing, more secure solution.

Enabled by our partners’ endpoint client solutions, the Data Management Engine – delivered as an SDK or app – is the smart choice for managed and unmanaged devices.