Listing and monitoring allowed applications on endpoints

There are separate instructions for staff to use mobile devices. The instructions cover:

• restrictions on installing software and using various services on your organization's devices
• procedures for the registration of new devices
• requirements for physical protection of equipment and installation of updates
• access control requirements
• protecting your organization’s data with encryption, malware protection, and backup
• the ability of the organization to remotely control the device

Procedures have been established for the theft or loss of mobile devices.

The user may be required to e.g.:

• change network access codes
• report the situation to the IT department (and, if necessary, to the police or mobile access provider)
• change any other credentials that may have been compromised

The organizational process in the event of a device loss may include e.g. clearing the device (at least the contents of the organization) remotely.

The organization has defined procedures for the safe disposal of laptops that are no longer required.

Installing commercially licensed software can cause a breach of the licence terms for the software. Organisation should have a procedure for identifying licensing requirements for before permitting any licensed software to be installed.

Particular attention should be paid to cases where the data system is elastic and scalable and can be run on more systems or processor cores than is permitted by the licence terms.

The organization must have policies defined for monitoring the security of third party endpoint devices. Policies may include both technical and contractual practices.

In general, the organization must carefully consider the situation before granting access to the organization's data to third parties and their endpoint devices.

The organization must enable remote wiping on all mobile devices it manages (e.g., phones, laptops, tablets).

Remote wiping can help protect your device and the data it contains in the event of loss or theft. However, remote wiping must be used with extreme caution.

The organization must enable remote locating on all mobile endpoints managed by the organization (e.g., phones, laptops, tablets).

Remote locating helps protect your device and the information it contains in the event of loss or theft.

All endpoint devices in the organization should be protected by a properly configured software firewall that monitors traffic, accepts compliant traffic, and monitors users.

A firewall protects against malware and attacks that come from inside or outside your organization's network.

Poorly configured endpoints cause both a waste of resources but also potential security problems.

The organization shall define a process to identify potential compatibility issues between the endpoint devices used and the operating systems, information systems or applications.

The organization must have list of approved applications, and application sources, that are allowed to be used on the organization's endpoint devices.

The organization should, if possible, execute management of approved software using automation for example with policies from mobile device management system.

The security policies defined in the mobile device management system aim to protect the organization’s data. For example, to reduce the risk of losing devices, you can specify that the device be locked after 5 minutes of inactivity or that the device be completely wiped after 3 failed login attempts.

It may make sense to test new policies first with a small group of users. Policies also require oversight. You can initially select a setting for policies that informs the administrator of settings that violate the policy, but does not completely block access.

Mobile Device Management (MDM) helps secure and manage staff mobile devices, whether they are iPhones, iPads, Android devices, or Windows devices. E.g. a Microsoft 365 subscription includes the basics of mobile device management.

Mobile device management system can be used to e.g. configure device security policies, wipe remotely and get accurate device usage reporting.

Devices should be protected against unauthorized access to or disclosure of information stored on or processed by them. Mandatory protection of the devices, e.g. with a 5-digit PIN code before each use, and automatic locking of the devices, e.g. after 5 minutes of inactivity, can help.

Endpoint security management system can be used to demand the desired security criteria from the devices before they are allowed to connect to the network resources. Devices can be laptops, smartphones, tablets or industry-specific hardware.

Criteria for the use of network resources may include e.g. approved operating system, VPN and antivirus systems, and the timeliness of these updates.

The devices must be registered in the mobile device management system in order to obtain a unique identifier for the device and to use the management features. When purchasing new devices, the devices are always registered in the mobile device management system.