This summer you'll probably have employees who want to do some of their work on the road, either in connection with family vacation or as part of their regular job description. This means that they'll probably be using smartphones to conduct company business – which in turn means that you've got to implement some smart smartphone security practices in advance. Here are some suggestions from your Austin IT business support crew at Gravity Systems.

Turn off location tracking for apps that don’t need it. Turn off the location tracking on your smartphones, or ask employees to turn off this feature on their own smartphones. There's usually no need to volunteer any more location data than the bad guys may already be able to determine from the device's usage patterns. More privacy is always better when sharing business communications!

Perform those patches and updates. If you're issuing company-owned smartphones, you have a golden opportunity to secure those phones by keeping their software updated with all the latest patches and updates.

Add VPN apps. Many leading VPN software companies offer mobile versions of their applications for iOS and Android. Once your employee switches the app on, the smartphone's IP address and location is anonymized through a proxy server. VPNs can help prevent “man in the middle” invasions of privacy.

Teach good “smartphone hygiene.” Do your employees know safe, secure smartphone practices? Add your organization's policies and procedures on the subject to every employee manual. Schedule training sessions to walk them step-by-step through these best practices.

Make sure every phone's “kill switch” is set. Despite all good intentions, an employee's smartphone may be lost or stolen – potentially placing private information into unfriendly hands. Google and iCloud both offer “find my phone” settings, through which you can remotely wipe and any all data.

Need help securing your smartphones? Contact us for guidance!

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