Mobile workers cause growing cybersecurity concerns amongst businesses

According to a new report from iPass, organizations are becoming increasingly worried about the growth in mobile cybercrime as a rising number of employees begin to use their mobiles as a way of conducting business.

The 2018 Mobile Security Report cites research from Strategy Analytics, predicting that there will be 1.75bn mobile workers by 2020. However, at the same time, the McAfee Mobile Threat Report from Q1 2018 shows that 16mn mobile users were hit by malware in Q3 2017.

These statistics are causing a greater level of concern for companies, with 92% of the 500 respondents citing that they were worried about the security challenges posed by their growing mobile workforce.

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“There is no escaping the fact that mobile security threats are rising. So while it is great that mobile workers are increasingly able to work from locations such as cafes, hotels and airports, there is no guarantee the Wi-Fi hotspot they are using is fully secure,” said Raghu Konka, Vice President of Engineering at iPass.

“Given the amount of high-profile security breaches in recent years, it’s not surprising this issue is on the radar of CIOs. The conundrum remains: how can they keep their mobile workers secure while providing them with the flexibility to get connected anywhere using their device of choice?”

One method that businesses are turning to is outright banning the usage of Wi-Fi hotspots, with 27% following this pattern. Other companies are promoting the use of VPNs, with the number of companies confident in their employees’ usage of VPNs having risen to 46% in 2018.

“Organizations must focus on taking positive action to resolve the security problems mobile workers are bringing to the table,” Konka continues. “With a secure connection through a VPN, enterprises can have confidence that Wi-Fi hotspot usage will have a positive rather than negative impact on their business.”

“The key for organizations is to educate mobile workers about today’s security threats, and to provide them with the tools to remain productive and secure.”

For more information, see the full 2018 Mobile Security Report.