Smartphones – Rob Tiffany

November 26, 2018October 16, 2022

The End of the Beginning

In his Tech Futures talk at the a16z Summit in November 2018, Andreessen Horowitz Partner Benedict Evans walks through where we are now in #software eating the world and how things may continue to change over the next 10 years. #Mobile #IoT #IIoT

What’s the state of not just “the world of tech”, but tech in the world? The access story is now coming to an end, observes Evans, but the use story is just beginning: Most of the people are now online, but most of the money is still not. If we think we’re in a period of disruption right now, how will the next big platform shifts — like machine learning — impact huge swathes of retail, manufacturing, marketing, fintech, healthcare, entertainment, and more? Especially as technology begins to tackle bigger problems, in harder markets, at deeper (and more structural) levels?

August 10, 2016October 16, 2022

Reduce Business Risk by Using Employee Smartphones and Multi-factor Authentication to Secure Corporate Resources

The perception that employee #smartphones are a #security liability is misplaced. They’re a #mobile, multi-factor authentication security asset.

It’s clear the things we’ve done in the past to stay secure are no longer sufficient. The pervasive use of usernames and passwords to authenticate with every kind of system on the planet is breaking down. Passwords aren’t strong enough and no one can remember them all. Some companies require something called two factor authentication in order to access their computer systems. This dramatically increases security because you’re required to have something like a smartcard and know something like a PIN in order to gain access. The downside is that everyone has to have a smartcard with cryptographic information on an embedded chip as well as a smartcard reader plugged into a PC to make this work. How likely is it that everyone on a global scale has this kind of gear? Not very.

It makes you wonder if there’s some kind of device carried by almost every human on the planet that could substitute for a smartcard? Seek out cloud and on-premises systems that work with devices to implement modern security features like multifactor authentication. Now when an employee enters their corporate credentials, the system will call their phone and require them to dial in an additional PIN to prove it’s actually them who’s trying to access corporate resources. A bad actor who may have stolen your credentials won’t have your phone to answer the call or know your PIN. It’s also unlikely they’ll have your face or fingerprint if you’ve enabled biometric security.

Reduce risk to your business by having employees use their smartphones to prove their identity when attempting access to corporate resources. What is your company doing to secure its business-critical resources?

Learn how to digitally transform your company in my newest book, “Mobile Strategies for Business: 50 Actionable Insights to Digitally Transform your Business.”

Click here to purchase a copy of my book today and start transforming your business!

August 8, 2016October 16, 2022

Reduce Corporate Risk by Enforcing Security Policies on Mobile Apps with MAM

To enforce policies on individual #mobile apps, get an #EMM solution with #MAM capabilities to prevent #data leaking from corporate to personal.

Mobile App Management (MAM) allows IT departments to protect corporate data without having to manage the whole device like you would with MDM. Since apps are the delivery mechanism of business data to employees, the thinking is, if you can lock down the apps, you can lock down the data. You may not need MDM anymore.

The BYOD phenomenon has IT departments concerned about the co-mingling of personal and business apps and data. EMM and mobile operating system vendors have tackled this data loss prevention (DLP) problem with variety of approaches ranging from the use of a Chinese wall to proprietary versions of public apps. The MAM component of EMM delivers:

An enterprise app store where employees can select internally and externally developed apps and websites
Encrypted containers dividing a mobile device into business and personal workspaces where data cannot be shared
Ability to allow or block the opening of business documents and the copying & pasting of data between apps
Selective wipe of corporate email, apps, data, certs and management policies
Secure PIM
App wrapping with or without an SDK
Apps that prompt for a PIN for devices that aren’t configured to prompt for credentials

Reduce risk to your organization by securing your mobile apps and the data they deliver to your employees with a protective envelope. What is your organization doing to mobile apps and data safe?

Learn how to digitally transform your company in my newest book, “Mobile Strategies for Business: 50 Actionable Insights to Digitally Transform your Business.”