Enterprises worldwide use Apple devices for collaboration, communication, and productivity. Although Apple devices are designed with security in mind, extra caution is needed to avoid data security breaches. This article explores the best practices for securing Apple devices in your enterprise.
As a data security expert or IT manager, you need to secure the devices in your organization. You must be able to control device settings, enforce security policies, monitor device usage, and install and configure apps.
This is where device management solutions come in. These solutions allow enterprises to secure their devices and guarantee data protection. They also enable data security experts to control many devices at once, regardless of their geographical location.
However, IT experts must stay current with best practices before choosing a device management solution. These practices include device configuration, encryption, authentication, and compliance with data policies.
Implementing Device Management Solutions
In the world of corporate technology, trends keep changing, and new tech-savvy solutions emerge daily. The multiplication of mobile devices gives companies the advantage of digital mobility for their teams. However, this convenience comes with security risks. To reduce these, organizations must implement device management solutions.
There are many device management solutions in the market. To choose the best solution for your business, consider the following:
Evaluate your needs
Evaluate your current needs and find a solution that will grow with your future ones. Work out the number of devices you have, the various types of devices, their capabilities, and operating systems. Choose a solution that is in sync with your devices.
Choose a device management solution
When choosing an MDM solution, it’s important to identify the one that aligns with your needs, is in sync with your devices and their operating systems, is easy to integrate, and complies with security laws and policies.
Compare the solutions and their key features such as software integrations, device enrollment, automation, app management, and compliance.
Determine your management policies
Once you have assessed your needs and settled on a solution, you must develop policies that will work for your enterprise. These should govern device usage, compliance, and security. They should also have provisions for the person responsible for managing, maintaining, and monitoring the devices and penalties for non-adherence to the guidelines.
Enroll and monitor devices
You are now ready to enroll your devices by installing and configuring software. Then, monitor device usage regularly to ensure there’s been no unauthorized access and to trace potential risks.
Setting Up Strong Authentication Measures
Even with the best security protocols in place, data breaches can happen. One way to secure Apple devices for enterprises is by using strong authentication. This means combining various factors to determine a user’s identity and accessibility to the devices.
Strong authentication minimizes data breaches because the others remain intact even if one device is compromised. This guarantees the security of the systems despite the breach.
It’s vital to use strong authentication to determine and verify each login request. The system will verify the frequency of logins and the location of requests by using timestamps.
Some strong authentication measures are:
- Using security questions
- Two-factor authentication (2FA)
- Biometric authentication, like fingerprints and facial recognition
- Physical authentication keys
- One-time passwords (OTP)
All these measures have one goal – to add an extra layer of security to your devices and prevent security breaches and unauthorized access.
Encrypting Data for Enhanced Security
Data encryption is a technique for enhancing security by translating data into code. Only people with a secret password or key can read the code. The main goal of encrypting data is to provide digital data confidentiality and eliminate unauthorized access.
Data encryption can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Symmetrical encryption uses one secret password for both encryption and decryption. On the other hand, asymmetrical encryption uses two different keys for the owner and recipient of data.
The benefits of data encryption include:
- Promotion of data integrity
- Prevention of data theft
- Compliance with security regulation requirements
- Protection of data in transit, at rest, and in cloud storage
- Protection of intellectual property
Enforcing App and Data Policies
Regarding mobility guidelines for enterprises, there’s a difference in how Apple devices are managed compared to Android. IT experts must separate corporate data from personal data.
When it comes to apps, the majority of enterprises use managed app strategies. These include any app that the enterprise policy or app store installs. This means the IT personnel can update, change the configurations, or even remove the app at any time using the EMM policy or command.
Managed apps can be paid, free, or in-house apps developed to suit your business needs. Because managed apps contain sensitive information, they need to be controlled by IT experts and governed by EMM policy. This helps to eliminate the risks of unauthorized data access.
The Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) policy sets the tone for how enterprises manage and distribute devices to protect data and eliminate security breaches.
Managed apps are, therefore, owned by the enterprise. As such, they have minimal privacy protection. Through EMM, you can put restrictions on sharing or copying content from managed apps to personal apps. Also, you can restrict access to other activities like roaming and printing. These restrictions must be clearly communicated to your team.
Apps can be licensed either via the enterprise’s Volume Purchase Program (VPP) or Apple Business Manager. If you choose to use VPP, users will install the app using a personalized code. When they leave the organization, they can still own a copy of the app but without any corporate content.
With regards to data policies, Apple devices by design have done their best to incorporate privacy. However, to ensure a seamless experience for your team, there’s a need to add an extra layer of security.
Once devices have been enrolled by a device management solution, you can employ various security policies. This includes configuring VPN settings, using single sign-on, and strong passwords. By using these policies, in the instance that a device goes missing, it can be locked remotely.
Conclusion
Apple devices are used by enterprises globally and although company devices are designed with a certain level of security, data breaches can still occur. To eliminate the risks of data breaches, enterprises need to secure their devices. That’s where device management solutions come in.
When choosing a solution that suits your business needs, you must consider the best practices. If you’re looking for a management solution for your organization, go here.
