Page 18 - Mobile Data Loss

12 Mobile Data Loss

USER DATA LOSS

Users are empowered with a plethora of ways on a mobile device in which
data can be shared across apps, to cloud repositories, device backup sync-
ing with cloud services, and more. Some data loss is accidental, while
others are intentional. The 2015 Verizon Data Breach Investigations
Report concluded that 20.6% of incidents were caused by insider misuse. 4
Andanadditional15.3% stemmedfromphysicaltheft or loss.
Many inherent features are available in iOS and Android to allow
data sharing. In iOS, features such as AirDrop and URL Schemes
6
5
allow sharing of data. In Android these are referred to as “intents. ”
These features, while respecting the application data sandboxing, do
allow some user-driven behaviors. For example, an user can receive a
corporate email with an attachment in their email app, open the
attachment in a document editing app, and then upload it to a per-
sonal cloud file and sync sharing service through a third app.
Additionally, the mobile operating systems allow features like copy/
paste, open-in, upload, screenshot, and more. The real challenge to the
mobile administrator is that these behaviors change every time a new
version of the operating system is released, and releases are frequent!

Many of these user-driven data loss threats are accidental. Our
mobile devices are designed to automatically sync with backup cloud
services. Users are frequently unaware that they may be backing up
sensitive corporate data to their personal cloud services.
User data loss can also occur from the myriad of network services
running on a device. These can include cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,
NFC, IRDA, and more.
Cyber espionage is also growing at an alarming rate. The implica-
tions in mobile are huge. In fact, the Verizon Data Breach
Investigations Report 2015 concluded that cyber espionage compro-
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mised 18% of “confirmed data breaches.” Users can share data in a
variety of ways, as mentioned earlier. But IT management of mobile
devices through an Enterprise Mobility Management solution may

4
http://www.verizonenterprise.com/DBIR/2015/ Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon
5 https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/iPhone/Conceptual/
iPhoneOSProgrammingGuide/Inter-AppCommunication/Inter-AppCommunication.html
6 https://developer.android.com/guide/components/intents-filters.html
7 http://www.verizonenterprise.com/DBIR/2015/ Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon