The market’s current mobile security trends respond to the significant surge in mobile threats against businesses.
Almost every company examined for Check Point Software Technologies’ “Mobile Security Survey 2021” encountered mobile attacks that leveraged a variety of threat vectors. At least one team member downloaded a harmful smartphone app in around half of the cases.
Considering the massive increase in mobile threats, businesses that have yet to manage their mobile security requirements will undoubtedly shift their attention to bolstering these resources shortly.
Mobile Security Today
The overall trend toward growing organization implementation of mobile security trends reflects mobile security trends. As more companies adopt bring your device (BYOD) rules that allow employees to access critical corporate resources from their portable devices, mobile security is getting a fresh look. Considering the surge in mobile-based cybercrime, this is the case.
Over many years, mobile business use has been expanding, but it surged during the COVID-19 pandemic when employees were required to stay connected to work at home. “While companies concentrated their attention elsewhere, hackers saw many new chances to attack,” Verizon Business’s CRO, Sampath Sowmyanarayan, warned in announcing Verizon’s Business Mobile Security Index 2021. The threat landscape has changed due to the expansion of the remote workers and increased mobile phone utilization, which implies that enterprises must focus more on mobile security to safeguard themselves and the people they serve,” he said.
Mobile devices are vulnerable to network attacks.
Last year, most businesses were hit by mobile malware, with 93 percent originating in a network device. The following are the most typical types of harmful network traffic generated by mobile devices:
- Phishing messages aimed at stealing personal information (52 percent).
- Control and command traffic from a device infected with malware (25 percent).
- Individuals are accessing compromised websites or URLs while browsing (23 percent).
Malicious mobile phone applications are becoming more prevalent.
Malware has hard been a significant cyber risk, but as working remotely and bringing your device (BYOD) regulations become more common, fraudsters aggressively attack mobile devices. Almost half of businesses (46%) had a security issue last year when a worker installed a harmful mobile phone app. The following are among the most common kinds of mobile malware:
- Malware droppers
- Banking Trojans
- Premium dialers
- Mobile remote access trojans (MRATs)
- Clickers
Attacks against legitimate applications are possible
Enterprises confront cybersecurity risks from criminal and lawful mobile applications and harmful mobile applications. Numerous leading social media apps (Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp) faced severe security flaws in 2020.
A remote code execution (RCE) issue discover in the Google Play Core Library, which connects apps to the Google Play Store. This remote code execution issue targeted approximately 8% of Google Play apps.
Vulnerabilities in hardware jeopardize the security
The core hardware of a mobile phone is assumed to be operational and secure by the mobile phone apps that run on it. Unfortunately, according to Check Point Analysis, at least 40% of mobile phones have hardware vulnerabilities.
Such low-level flaws can have a wide range of consequences for a mobile phone and its users, such as:
- Denial of Service (DoS) attacks
- Data breaches of a critical nature (videos, photos, location, calls, etc.)
- Malware persistence and installation
Cybercriminals abuse Mobile Device Management.
Mobile Device Management (MDM) services intend to offer centralized business control over all of its mobile phones. Although this can benefit a company, it may also be a liability.
Malicious hackers started frequently attacking Mobile Device Management solutions in attacks in 2020. They obtain control of all devices handled by a Mobile Device Management controller by abusing it.
How Can You safeguard Yourself From Mobile Threats?
In the past, enterprise security measures did not place a high premium on mobile phones. Mobile phone security overtakes by networking and other endpoint security issues with most employees who work from the office and minimal mobile phone utilization.
As hybrid and remote work becomes more widespread, organizations require mobile security systems to handle current and future mobile security concerns. Companies should include several critical characteristics in a mobile security mechanism, such as:
- Phishing Protection: Phishing attempts on mobile phones can become available in many forms (social media, SMS, email, etc.). These threat vectors must be monitored and protected by a mobile security system.
- Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Threat Mitigation: Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) threats, in which hackers eavesdrop and intercept network interaction, threaten mobile phones. These threats should be detected and blocked with the help of mobile security mechanisms.
- Malicious Application Protection: Malicious phone applications are becoming a more serious threat to company security. These harmful applications should identify and blocked by mobile security tools.
- Network Access Management: If hacked devices gain access to company information, they might constitute a vulnerability to the company. Malicious devices should be denied access to business applications and networks by mobile security solutions.
- Operating system-level Security: Mobile phones are subject to rooting, jailbreaking, and operating system exploits, all of which should identify and avoided.
This year will not be any different when it comes to scamming. Fraudsters have many options, and their methods are becoming increasingly complex. Organizations can no longer afford to cut corners and prioritize risk management where customers invest the most time on their mobile devices. Companies must be informed of the newest tools of the trade and accelerate their defenses to fight and prevent attacks. In particular, they require preparing applications and applying countermeasures as soon as possible, like initiating to assess threats and securing every user checkpoint. Digitalization will bloom with new chances for everyone in 2022, both positive and negative. People who get ahead of it will come out on top this year.