PHP Smarty Development
20th January 2020
What is Data Breach?
22nd January 2020
Enterprises are inclining more and more towards enterprise apps for simplifying as well as speeding up business processes. Experts have predicted that by the year 2017, about 25% of the enterprises will have their exclusive enterprise app stores. Although the adoption of web applications and mobile apps is increasing in the corporates, many companies still lack an effective Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) strategy. New technologies, taking up important positions in the enterprises, are also making way for potential threats to corporate security. Ensuring the security of enterprise apps is a complex issue, considering the large number of devices, operating systems and platforms used. And, corporate systems, if hacked, could trigger a chain of damages in the company that may affect the whole system severely. Thus, such threats pose a major challenge for the IT departments, which continually strive to improve their technology to enhance the app security.
Let’s have a look at the major factors that pose security threats to the enterprise apps:
BYOD threats
The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) movement is gaining pace these days and is also creating substantial security threats for the enterprises. Most of the employees, who own a smartphone or tablet, access corporate data through their own devices using enterprise mobile apps. Although the initiative has benefited the corporates by saving money and easing jobs, it has also arrived with certain risks. In case the devices are not centrally managed and there is no tracking of exactly how many devices are being used and for what purpose, there is a high probability of data leakage.
Third party application threats
The BYOD movement has also promoted the BYOA (Bring Your Own Application) movement. Tech savvy employees have started downloading 3rd party business applications for file sharing and availing other networking features. Although the intentions are good behind such downloads, it could put the enterprise at risk. There is always a possibility of Malware and Spyware in such apps which could steal data and initiate malicious downloads. In fact, some of such apps are unintentionally malicious due to poor coding and can expose confidential corporate data.
Accidental data leakage
In case the personal devices of employees, who access corporate data through their smartphones and tablets using enterprise apps, gets stolen, it could immediately expose the sensitive information of an organization. This is accidental leakage of data and may bring severe troubles to the company.
Hacking and virus attacks
Preventing virus attacks and hacking is another huge challenge for enterprise app developers. Most of the apps, in fact, fall prey of such attacks. Hackers are constantly making advancements in their techniques, breaking even the toughest layers of security. Thus, there is a dire need of consistent upgrading of security features so that enterprises can stay ahead of the hackers.
Network level threats
Enterprise apps can also face threats at network level, especially when third party apps are used by the employees. Although the enterprise networks remain safe, external networks to which employees connect their devices could be unreliable. Unsecured Wi-Fi networks could be damaging for the enterprise apps and can trigger data leakage and other unwanted actions.
Enterprise app security threats are indeed real but experts are also exploiting the immense potential of technology to find out ways to shield the apps from such risks. Also, avoiding enterprise apps to avoid such threats would mean staying far behind in the competition. Thus, companies adopting such applications must be aware of the threats and devise intelligent strategies to reap their full benefits, avoiding troubles.
