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Mobile device management (MDM) is software that enables IT teams to supervise and secure all mobile endpoints in a company`s digital perimeter: laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc. In the age of remote & hybrid work, an MDM strategy is an essential component of endpoint security.
By using a Mobile Device Management solution, IT administrators can track and configure mobile devices, decide what applications to install, enforce security measures, and maintain compliance. This all happens from a centralized location, in order to ensure unity.
Mobile Device Management`s Role in Endpoint Security
In the past 10 years, businesses kept migrating from using desktop devices to mobile ones, be it laptops, tablets, or sophisticated smartphones that don`t require presence in a certain space. Of course, dedicated cyber threats that targeted this specific niche soon followed.
This trend has increased during and after the pandemic. It is now common for a company to offer its employees the possibility of working remotely or in a hybrid version.
For security teams, this trend has brought new challenges. In this scenario, Mobile Devices Management ensures the mandatory framework, policies, and tools for safeguarding all the endpoints that employees need to perform their daily tasks. Briefly, MDM enables the security team to track, administrate and protect mobile devices along with their data and content.
Key Components of MDM Solutions
Mobile device management solutions are based on two main components:
- an MDM agent, which is the software that administrators install on each mobile endpoint. The software enables the IT crew to monitor and control applications, enforce security policies, and so on. The MDM agent`s role is to facilitate communication between endpoints and the MDM server.
- an MDM server, which is based in the cloud and is the core of the system. The MDM server acts as a headquarter that hosts and manages the configurations, settings, policies, and data coming or going from and to mobile devices.
Once the admins decide what policies and features should be in place, they use the MDM server to transmit them remotely to the MDM agents installed on each device. It is the software, the MDM agent, that will further communicate with the APIs in the OS to enforce the required policies.
Professional MDM solutions detect new devices in a network automatically. Further on, the IT team uses the unified admin dashboard to configure and apply needed policies to them.
Main Benefits of Using Mobile Device Management Solutions
Working remotely offers long-dreamed freedom to employees and saves office-related costs for the company. However, this creates the need of tracking the devices your team uses for work. Any IT team would like to know where exactly their endpoints are located. Also, knowing what kind of networks they are connected to, helps keeping the company`s assets safe.
MDM solutions enable you to better protect the devices and internal data that employees need to access in order to perform their tasks remotely.
Using a mobile device for work and being able to work from anywhere outside the office exposes the machine to specific mobile device threats.
For example, if an employee loses or has their machine stolen, sensitive data could suddenly be exposed. Mobile device management enables the IT team to delete all data remotely, so there`s no risk of a data breach.
If they use MDM software, your IT administrators will be able to track and block the device, and also wipe remotely any data in order to prevent unauthorized access.
Mobile Device Management may come with other features and benefits too:
Patching and maintenance from the distance
Manually configuring and updating hundreds or thousands of devices is nowadays simply a loss of time and energy. Companies with more than 200 employees rather choose automated patch management software, than following a traditional approach.
First, the IT admin team members have to waste serious amounts of time configuring each machine at a time. Second, in this scenario, the employees will have to put their tasks on hold while their IT colleagues do their jobs. So, no one wins.
MDM solutions help companies increase productivity, due to automated maintenance processes.
Better application control
Closely monitoring what software is or is not deployed on a device keeps endpoints safe from malware. This way, it is easier to preserve a clean digital environment and make sure that all devices work at full capacity, with no parasite apps to slow them down.
It will also be easier for the IT crew to allow or install requested apps when needed so that employees can access the tools faster.
Also, the application control features enable admins to create white and blocklists, to ensure only approved, trusted software is deployed.
Improved data collection
Data collection is a critical component of the cyber threat-hunting process. Threat hunters rely on various intelligence to discover IoCs. Having real-time access to data about how a device works helps safeguard endpoints and favors overall security improvement.
Easier onboarding
Mobile device management platforms make onboarding new devices easier and faster. They enable organizations to enroll multiple devices at once. Also, IT admins can create pre-configured profiles that include all essential settings and policies needed. They usually push all needed applications and resources to the new endpoints. That way, all users will have access to the required tools from day one.
Improved BYOD security
Companies that have a BYOD policy in place gain a series of benefits but also expose themselves to particular challenges.
On the plus side, they reduce costs by allowing employees to use their own devices for work. The employees are usually more comfortable using a machine they are already familiar with and they often treat it more carefully. On the other side, BYOD approaches might put the company`s data at risk. However, Mobile Device Management and a clear set of BYOD rules help safeguard the company`s assets. Using a proper MDM solution will allow you to track and block a stolen or lost device and even wipe certain data in case the machine is compromised.
Heimdal® Next-Gen Endpoint Antivirus
- Multiple layers of detection.
- Enhanced Brute-Force Protection.
- Remote device control with MDM.
Heimdal®`s Solution for Mobile Device Management
Heimdal`s solution for Mobile Device Management is encapsulated in its NGAV + XTP with MDM technology. The product combines the techniques of traditional and next-gen Antivirus to detect and remediate viruses, APTs, financial fraud, ransomware, and data leaks. In addition, its Mobile Device Management module empowers the IT team to keep a company`s mobile device fleet under surveillance from literally anywhere in the world, by using any Windows-compatible machine.
In case a laptop, tablet, or smartphone is reported lost or stolen, you will be able to track it immediately and recover the device. Using the Refresh Device Location button in the Endpoint Detection tab helps you localize a device by sending a location request to the machine and retrieving the current location.
Additionally, if the integrity of sensitive data is at stake, the Heimdal Mobile Device Management module enables you to lock the machine or even wipe it clean. This way, you prevent any data leakage that may occur.
Wrap Up
After the Covid-19 pandemic, companies started to rely more and more on mobile technology. Thanks to advanced cybersecurity techniques, it is no longer a challenge to remotely safeguard endpoints that are not tied to a specific office location. Mobile Device Management solutions made remote work safer. Using an MDM solution, companies can use the benefits of mobile technology at full capacity. This enables them to ensure data protection, increase productivity, and stay one step ahead of threat actors.
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