Cybersecurity Awareness Month: The Role Mobile Device Management Plays in Security
It’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Canada, and we’re taking part by diving deeper into the foundations your business needs to build on to improve its security posture. Today, we’re talking about Mobile Device Management (MDM).
What is Mobile Device Management?
Mobile Device Management (MDM) is a security solution that allows organizations to monitor, manage, and secure employee devices—whether they’re company-owned or personal devices used for work. These devices might include smartphones, tablets, and laptops, which are increasingly used for work in today’s remote and hybrid work environments. MDM helps you maintain control over access to sensitive company data while empowering your employees to work efficiently from anywhere.
With MDM, businesses can deploy security policies, monitor device usage, and even remotely wipe a device in case of theft or loss. This centralized control is critical as businesses adopt bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, where employees use personal devices for work tasks. Without a proper MDM system in place, your organization’s sensitive data can become vulnerable.
How Will Mobile Device Management Improve My Security?
Data Encryption & Remote Wipe
MDM solutions allow you to encrypt sensitive business data, ensuring that if a device is lost or stolen, the data remains protected. Additionally, you can remotely wipe devices to prevent unauthorized access to confidential information.Application Management
Forrester Research found that 42% of companies suffering from external attacks attributed these incidents to vulnerabilities in software security. MDM helps mitigate this risk by giving you control over which applications are allowed on company devices. This ensures that employees only install approved, secure applications that don’t introduce malware or other risks into your IT environment.Access Control & Monitoring
You can set role-based access to sensitive data, otherwise known as Conditional Access, ensuring that only authorized personnel can access critical systems or information. With MDM, you can also monitor device usage in real-time to spot any unusual activity or security risks before they escalate.Compliance with Security Policies
MDM enforces security policies across all mobile devices used within your organization, ensuring consistent compliance with internal security standards.Protection Against Cyber Threats
MDM solutions often come with built-in malware detection, firewall protection, and other security features that help protect your devices from external threats. As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, this layer of defence is essential in safeguarding your business.
How is Mobile Device Management Used in the Real World?
Use Cases for MDM Software
Mobile Device Management (MDM) software can be applied across many different contexts to enhance security and productivity. Here are a few common use cases where MDM plays a vital role:
Remote Work and Distributed Teams
With the rise of remote work, managing and securing devices from a distance is critical. MDM allows businesses to push updates, manage applications, and enforce security policies remotely, ensuring that employees' devices remain compliant and secure—no matter where they are located.Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Policies
Many companies allow employees to use their personal devices for work tasks. MDM makes it possible to keep corporate data secure on these personal devices by creating separate work environments or profiles. This ensures that security measures are applied to work-related data without infringing on your employees' personal privacy.Onboarding New Employees or Devices
When new employees join or when the company rolls out new devices, MDM streamlines the setup process. IT can quickly configure security settings, install necessary applications, and apply company policies across all devices without the need for manual intervention, reducing downtime and ensuring consistency.Handling Lost or Stolen Devices
Losing a device or having it stolen is a significant risk to company security. With MDM, administrators can remotely lock the device, locate it, or wipe all data to prevent unauthorized access, mitigating the risk of data breaches.Streamlining IT Support
MDM reduces the burden on IT support teams by allowing them to remotely troubleshoot issues, deploy updates, and make configuration changes. This minimizes downtime for employees and ensures that devices remain secure and functional without requiring physical IT support.Scalability for Growing Businesses
As companies grow and more devices are added to the network, MDM provides a scalable way to manage an increasing number of devices. Whether your business is expanding or adding new locations, MDM ensures consistent security and management across all devices, regardless of size or complexity.
Mobile Device Management Software
Mobile Device Management software is the key to getting centralized oversight of the security and functionality of your employees' mobile devices. It works by installing an agent or profile on each device, which allows your IT administrators to remotely monitor, manage, and enforce security policies.
How MDM Software Works
Once an MDM solution is set up, the administrator deploys the MDM profile or app to all relevant devices. The software integrates with your organization’s existing IT infrastructure, giving administrators a real-time overview of all devices. They can push security updates, enforce compliance rules, and manage devices without needing to physically handle each one. This level of control is essential in large or distributed teams, where keeping track of multiple devices can be a logistical challenge.
One of the leading MDM solutions is Microsoft Intune, part of the Microsoft 365 suite. Intune offers a comprehensive range of features for managing devices across operating systems like iOS, Android, and Windows.
Intune excels in providing seamless integration with other Microsoft services, making it a go-to solution for organizations already using Microsoft 365. Through Intune, administrators can:
Deploy Policies and Apps: Easily push out security policies and applications to both corporate and BYOD devices.
Manage User Access: Control access to company resources based on device compliance status. For example, users on non-compliant devices can be restricted from accessing sensitive data until their device is updated or secured.
Secure Access to Corporate Data: Intune works with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) to enforce identity-driven security policies, ensuring that only authorized users and devices can access company data.
Streamline Endpoint Management: Intune offers unified management for all endpoints, including desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. This reduces the complexity of managing multiple types of devices and ensures consistent security across the board.
By using Microsoft Intune, your business can benefit from centralized management, powerful security features, and seamless integration with existing tools, making it easier to manage mobile devices while maintaining a high level of security and compliance.
Does Your Business Need Mobile Device Management?
We’re here to help you figure that out. Our MDM experts can help your business govern and manage devices without compromising the convenience needed to work when and where you want. With Microsoft Endpoint Manager and other best-of-breed solutions, we deliver the modern workplace while safeguarding your business information, both in the cloud and on-premises.