Information technology (IT) environments have changed drastically because of the increasing popularity of smartphones, tablets, and other highly capable, rapidly maturing mobile devices.
These devices have many functional similarities to traditional IT systems — including access to a wide range of enterprise applications and data, as well as additional functionality particular to mobile computing. This has greatly expanded the utility and value of mobile devices, enabling employees to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently.
Unfortunately, security controls have not kept pace with the security risks that mobile devices can pose, not only in bring your own device (BYOD) scenarios but also in corporately owned and personally enabled (COPE) mobile device deployments, where mobile devices are adopted on an ad hoc basis.
This gap in protection mechanisms means that data stored on or accessed from mobile devices is at increased risk of being breached.
