If you use a mobile device, then you probably
use some type of screen lock to limit someone
from gaining access to the information contained
within your mobile device.
Depending on your mobile device, you
may have a number of options available for unlocking
that screen.
You might be using facial recognition
so you would use the cameras that
are built into your mobile device
to be able to look at your face confirm that's you
and unlock the device.
Or you might choose to use a personal identification number
that only you yourself know.
Some mobile devices also support the use of a fingerprint
so that you can use something that's
part of you to be able to unlock the device.
You can also use a swipe pattern to unlock
the phone and that would obviously be something
that only you knew.
If someone does try to gain access to your mobile device
through this lock screen and they try over and over
with one failed attempt after another,
eventually the system will react.
For example with iOS, everything on that device
is erased after 10 failed attempts.
If this is an Android device, it will lock itself by default
and prompt you for your Google credentials.
If you don't provide those credentials,
it will wipe everything on the phone.
Many of our mobile devices include some type
of locator application so that we
can find our device if we happen to lose it or leave it
at another location.
This is using the built in GPS capabilities on this device
to bring up a map and show you exactly where that device may
be located.
Once you find the device, you can
choose to play a sound get directions
to where the device might be or display
a message on the screen.
And if you feel that you can't retrieve this device,
you can mark this device as lost and you can remotely
erase everything that's on that device.
This will ensure that your personal data and everything
else on that phone or tablet will not
be accessible by anyone else.
In our discussion of Windows, Linux, and Mac
OS, we constantly reminded you to keep those operating systems
up to date with the latest versions.
This same best practice applies to all of your mobile devices.
So you want to be sure that your phones and tablets are also
constantly updated.
These patches will include security fixes
so you can be assured that your systems will
be as safe as possible.
And they might also include enhancements or changes
to the operating system itself.
On most of these mobile devices, the update process
is turned on by default, so your system will automatically
download the update and install it
at a time that's convenient for you.
If you're familiar with using BitLocker for full disk
encryption on a Windows operating system,
then you're probably familiar with the full disk encryption
options available for mobile devices.
This encrypts all data on a mobile device,
ensuring that a third party would not have some way
to gain access to the data if they happen to physically
be in control of your phone.
In iOS, this full device encryption capability
is encrypted using the passcode associated with your account.
In both iOS and Android, this full device encryption
is already integrated into the operating system,
and in most cases, is turned on by default.
These mobile devices we use can be damaged or lost
very easily so it's always a good idea to have
a backup of all of your data.
Fortunately, most of our mobile operating systems
are designed to automatically provide an ongoing backup
of all of your data.
This means that you don't have to start
an application manually or remember to backup everything.
Instead, your device is constantly
backing up all of your data.
This uses the wireless and mobile networks
that you're already connected to so you don't even have
to think about the process.
It's something that is automatically
going to use whatever resources are
available to back up your data.
This means if you lose the device
or it becomes damaged, you can simply purchase a new device,
log back into the new device, and all
of this information that has been backed to the cloud
is now brought down into the device
and restored on your new system.
Attackers know that you keep personal data
on these mobile devices and they're constantly
trying to find ways to get into that device
by using some type of malware or other vulnerability.
The closed environment that's used by Apple's iOS
makes this process of finding vulnerabilities and having
malware installed onto an iOS device difficult to manage.
An attacker would need to find some type of vulnerability that
hasn't already been discovered to gain access
to an iOS device.
The Android operating system is a bit more open.
You can install applications from any website you'd like,
which means that an attacker could potentially
have you download a Trojan Horse and install it
onto your Android device.
In both of these cases applications
run in a sandbox that's inside of the operating system, which
means they don't have full access to all
of the data or resources available on that mobile
device.
There are antivirus and anti-malware options
available for both iOS and Android,
so check your favorite App Store to see what may
be available for your device.
On most of our mobile devices, we
are initiating data flows outbound from the device.
Very rarely would an application need
to have inbound access to one of our mobile phones or tablets.
That's one of the reasons why running a firewall on a phone
or tablet is not the default, and usually a firewall
is not included with those operating systems.
However, you may be able to find a firewall
available in your favorite App Store.
Most of these are available on the Android operating system,
but none of them seem to be widely used across the board.
Where you might especially want to control these data
flows is inside of an enterprise environment.
And usually a mobile Device Manager
can set policies on what type of access
should be inbound or outbound from that device.
Most companies will insist on this type of control
for mobile devices, whether it's a mobile device that
was purchased by the company, or it's
one that is a user's mobile device that they
bring to work through a BYOD, which is bring your own device.
This brings up some challenges for maintaining security,
especially on a single device that not only has a user's
personal data, but also an organization's corporate data.
As we've already mentioned, many organizations
will use an MDM, or Mobile Device Manager,
to provide security policies that run on that device.
Policies can be configured for the type of apps
that run on the device where the data is stored on that device,
and what resources might be available depending
on where you happen to be.
For example, if you are in the office,
you may find that your camera doesn't work.
But when you leave the building, your camera works normally.
In many cases, the system administrator
can set up a partition or separation
of data within your mobile device
so that if you leave the organization
they can delete the company's data
but leave all of your personal data intact.
This is also a great way to ensure that these systems will
be secure because the administrator can set policies
to always require screen locks and to require
a personal identification number to gain access to the device.
We are connecting more devices to the network than ever
before.
And if you're at home or at work,
you've probably seen IoT devices, that
stands for internet of things.
An IoT device might be something like a sensor that's
in a room that's used by your heating or cooling
system, or perhaps the lighting that you use is controlled
through network connections.
You might also have other home automation features
like doorbells or garage doors that
are connected to the network, and you can raise or lower
the garage door through an app that's on your mobile phone.
Many of us use wearable devices that are constantly
connected to us and to the network,
and there might be other sensors connected
to cooling systems or temperature
controls within your building.
All of these different and varied IoT systems
are usually made by different manufacturers and work
in different ways.
This also means that each one of these devices
could potentially contain vulnerabilities
that might allow someone else to gain access to our network.
These organizations are very good at making video doorbells
and temperature monitors, but they may not
be well versed in the intricacies of IT security.
For that reason, you might want to consider
segmenting all of your IoT devices
onto their own segment, which would have limited access
to the rest of your network.