MobileIron: ‘Endpoint Protection Shouldn’t Be Limited To Desktop’

MobileIron’s Russell Mohr says many of the leading solutions out there today do not include mobile devices, like iOS or Android, ‘and as a matter of fact we’ve seen that there are more vulnerabilities on these operating systems now and that the honey pot has actually moved to mobile.’

As remote work continues to be the “new normal,” MobileIron’s Russell Mohr shares with the channel why it’s important for endpoint security to move beyond the desktop in the evolving 5G era.

“We’re going to see a lot more consumer 5G and we’re already seeing acceleration of the rollout,” said Mohr. “Some of that’s based on the pandemic. 5G becomes more crucial, it’s more important to have high band with when everybody is dispersed.”

And as the industry sees the growing demand for 5G, Mohr told CRNtv that he thinks there’s going to be a big shift in user behavior because “5G is much faster in many cases than the wifi network they were joining.”

Is There Cause For Concern?

Mohr said the businesses that the Mountain View, Calif.-based endpoint and enterprise mobility management firm deals with that are most likely to be concerned about 5G are starting to be seen in the federal space and “that’s because there’s a lot of government mandates around 5G.”

“For instance, the State Department has issued an RFI (request for information) called ‘The Clean Path To 5G’ and there are certain networks that they don’t trust, and those networks quite often will have untrusted supply chain elements in them,” said Mohr.

And that’s why MobileIron looks for details around the devices, “including what network are you connected to right now and what carrier is that, and where are you?” Mohr added. “And so, those are things that we can actually take into account when we build our policies around do we trust or not trust a device.”

Advice To The Channel

“Your endpoint protection shouldn’t be limited to desktop,” Mohr told CRNtv.

He said many of the leading solutions out there today do not include mobile devices, like iOS or Android, “and as a matter of fact we’ve seen that there are more vulnerabilities on these operating systems now and that the honey pot has actually moved to mobile.”

Mohr also suggested that channel partners build Zero Trust or what Gartner is calling ’SASE’ (secure access service edge) into their cyber defenses.

The Evolution Of Mobile Security

“From a mobile standpoint, we’ve seen that the operating systems have become much more sophisticated, they’ve evolved very quickly to respond to evolving threats and Zero-Day vulnerabilities, but we’ve also found is as quickly as they move, there’s a whole suite of malicious actors that are moving just a little bit faster than them,” said Mohr.

At MobileIron, Mohr said the company has made it their mission to manage and secure mobile devices, “constantly checking devices to see if they’re safe.”

“We’re looking at their posture, so are they rooted or jailbroken, have they been lost and not reported to the organization, do they have the appropriate apps on them and are they using the right identity?” Mohr added.

To hear more from Mohr about how MobileIron is addressing mobile security in the era of 5G, head over to CRNtv.