Strengthening data security in a changing world

As employees are increasingly accustomed to working outside the office, the security of their mobile devices and the data that resides on or passes through them has become a major challenge for corporations. Unified Endpoint Management solutions help address this issue.

The pandemic has considerably accelerated the development of teleworking in Luxembourg companies and the trend is likely to continue in the future. In parallel to the health crisis, new technologies and the ever-growing digitalization now offer the possibility to work almost anywhere: at the office of course, but also from home, in the car between two meetings, on public transport, from a coworking space... To answer these new ways of working, more and more employees equip themselves, in addition to a desktop computer, with mobile devices such as a smartphone, a tablet or a laptop.

Protecting business data

The growing use of these mobile devices for work is not without its challenges. For companies, it is a real challenge in terms of securing and controlling the data relating to the company, its customers and its partners that is stored or consulted on these devices.

Just as landline devices in the office are protected, it is essential to protect mobile devices in order to avoid cyber-attacks and data leaks, particularly of important or sensitive data, which can be dramatic for a company. Of course, this data protection is primarily achieved through the implementation of adequate anti-phishing and anti-malware software. It can also be complemented by a Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) solution.

Adapting to the security policies of all devices

In the past, Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) were referred to. MDM enables the remote deployment and maintenance of the company's mobile devices. EMM also enables the implementation of security policies and the management of mobile applications and rights to use them.

EMU goes one step further. It offers the possibility to cover and manage all connected devices of the company. The EMU is flexible and allows the company's security policies to be applied to its fleet of devices, whether landline or mobile: PC, laptop, smartphone, tablet, connected objects, etc. Different policies can be applied depending on the type of device, its operating system, its user or the location of the device.

Securing mobile devices

With EMU, IT teams can define and deploy their own security and control rules for employee devices, depending on the company's sector of activity, its operations, the needs of each worker's function, etc. It should be noted that the EMU can only intervene and establish rules with regard to professional data. As personal data are governed by the RGPD, they cannot be managed by the EMU.

In concrete terms, it is possible, for example, to grant remote access to each employee's desktop computer, to prevent screen capture in certain applications, to establish who can access the company's network, internal emails, this or that application or even customer files, etc. If an employee's mobile device is lost or stolen, EMU also allows IT teams to remotely disable the device or delete sensitive information and company-related data from the device.

It is up to each company to define its own security policy for mobile devices and to find the right balance between data protection on the one hand, and flexibility and a good user experience on the other.

Do you want to use Unified Endpoint Management to secure your employees' landline and mobile devices and thus protect your data? Orange Luxembourg offers you IT tools for professionals and supports you in the implementation of a UEM solution.