Let's face it: IT administrators in top corporations have their hands full protecting company information in a world gone mobile. Smartphones, and the smart employees who use them, can often circumvent security procedures, forwarding confidential memos or attachments to other phones or alternate email accounts without consideration for the vulnerability of that information.

Rather than limit access to information, today's IT departments are finding new ways to safeguard the behaviors of their mobile workforce—regardless of the devices they choose—and prevent data loss or leakage across their networks. Here's how they do it:

7. They start by enforcing strong passwords
Successful IT departments seek mobile device management solutions that allow them to enforce password policies, disable sequential numbers in passwords, or specify password timeouts. Many institute a remote wipe of specific applications and their data—or wipe of the entire device—after a failed number of incorrect passwords has been entered.

6. They secure both the device and the applications
IT administrators must be allowed to set and manage security policies at the application level, as well as at the device level. For example, implementing complex password policies at the application level provides a less intrusive user experience while ensuring corporate security. Device-level encryption cannot address risky behavior that occurs within applications themselves—when users inadvertently share corporate data through 3rd party apps and cloud services. Even when phones are provisioned through an MDM solution, administrators simply have no control of security at the app level. By providing security and control at both app and device levels, IT can further reduce the risk of data loss.

5. They use strong encryption on the device and Over The Air
Diligent administrators insist on the strongest encryption and enforce the toughest authentication policies—Over The Air. Because not all mobile devices support encryption, email and attachments stored on the device can easily be viewed by anyone. Security-conscious IT professionals ensure that all data gets strong AES 192-bit encryption—even data that's in transit between a device and servers behind your firewall. All information is secured throughout a complete end-to-end system.

4. They respect a user's privacy on BYOD devices
When an IT administrator wipes a user's device, the user often feels wiped out too. By eliminating corporate data from a device, an employee may lose their personal contacts, favorite apps, preference settings—and a sense of privacy. But IT administrators who use app level protection can selectively wipe corporate data while leaving personal data intact. This type of protection also prevents enterprise data from being accessed by 3rd party apps or intermingled with personal data. From inside “contained” applications, employees are free to collaborate with other employees, send attachments, or edit documents—without behaving in an unsafe manner.

3. They prevent consumer apps from accessing corporate data
If employees are using a consumer app (like a PDF reader) to open and view company documents, those files are not completely secure. They can be synced to cloud-based storage and potentially leaked. To prevent such breaches, IT must implement restrictions only found in solutions that “containerize” data inside corporate applications.

2. They quickly respond to lost or stolen devices
When a mobile device becomes misplaced, lost, or stolen, the most secure companies act swiftly to eliminate risk of lost data. Through the use of web-based controls, administrators use any nearby browser to access a universal dashboard to instantly view and manage all mobile devices in their workforce—from virtually anywhere, anytime—and remotely wipe information from within apps or across the entire device.

1. They proactively prevent rogue devices from accessing corporate networks and avoid punching holes in firewalls
The safest IT departments start with a secure platform—with strong controls that include enforcing policies at the app level, and preventing jailbroken or rooted devices from connecting to the network. In addition, access to the network is provided through a secure NOC that only services encrypted packets and doesn't require firewall holes.

Furthermore, the most secure IT environments rely on the industry-leading tools of Good Technology, the only security approach that addresses the safety of every part of the information infrastructure. Through a solution called Good for Enterprise, they have taken mobile security beyond basic MDM by "containerizing" data at the app level—separating corporate data from employees' private information—and establishing a secure environment for users to access business attachments and other corporate documents without risk.