Public networks used for corporate access

Bromium®, Inc. has published the results of “CTIA Super Mobility – Understanding Mobility and Risk,” a survey of mobile users who attended the CTIA Super Mobility 2015 conference, focused on public network access patterns. The research reveals that the majority of mobile users access corporate assets through public networks, despite being aware of their security risk.

Wednesday, 7th October 2015 Posted 8 years ago in by Phil Alsop

“There are multiple risks associated with connecting to public networks, including man-in-the-middle attacks, honey pots and even advanced persistent threats, such as DarkHotel,” said Clinton Karr, senior security strategist, Bromium. “It should be concerning to information security professionals tasked with protecting their corporate assets that their users will connect to potentially unsecure public networks, while neglecting their security risk.”

Key findings from Bromium’s “CTIA Super Mobility – Understanding Mobility and Risk” include:

Mobile Users Access Public Networks Despite Awareness of Risk: More than 80 percent of survey respondents have accessed public networks from a corporate laptop at a hotel or convention centre, and more than 60 percent have done the same at an airport, coffee shop or restaurant; however, these same respondents also selected hotels, convention centres, airports and coffee shops as the public networks with the most security risk.

Mobile Users Access Corporate Assets from Personal Devices and Public Networks: Eighty-six percent of survey respondents have accessed their corporate network, corporate files or corporate email account from their personal devices. Sixty-four percent of survey respondents have accessed their corporate network, corporate files or corporate email account from a public network.

Mobile Users Take Inadequate Precautions Connecting to Public Networks: Only one-in-three mobile users (37 percent) connect via VPN, and 14 percent take no precautions at all.