Earlier this year, a laptop was stolen from Coca Cola’s Atlanta HQ. The computer contained the personal information of 74,000 people, or put another away, the population of Scranton, Pennsylvania. More than 18,000 Social Security numbers may have also been compromised along with other data. Such thefts don’t come as a shock to anyone, of course. Mobile, convenient data means mobile and convenient to thieves as well, but when every personal, mobile data device can become enmeshed in corporate life—such as the growing role of Enterprise Resource Planning on mobile devices—it’s not just personal data at stake but the strategies and data of a business itself. To embrace a mobile ERP means that the theft of the devices outside the business becomes a low-tech entry into the mind of your business.
The examples are plentiful, of course. In 2006, laptop stolen from a Virginia home contained millions of Veterans’ Affairs client records. Whether the thief was hoping to come across such a gold mine of information or just looking for a quick buck from a pawnshop may never be known, but the potential exists for a catastrophic violation of vital information. Consider also the 2008 Ponemon Institute study that found some 600,000 laptops were lost each year at airports and the true amount of data available to the unscrupled looms ever larger. Even our own absent-mindedness may expose your business to risk.
EMBRACE MOBILE ERP – INCREASE SECURITY
Naturally, with the expansion of ERP functionality to other information devices such as tablets and cellphones, the number of doors into your ERP system grows and grows. If we honestly ask ourselves how many times a week we had to wonder where our cellphone is, we would realize that the potential for a business data breach is higher than we might have originally assumed. We have every reason to be on guard for the high-tech attacks against our corporate systems (which we spoke of earlier), but basic physical theft of mobile devices presents a low-tech threat that we should not underestimate.
Mobile ERP is undoubtedly an amazing technological advancement for the world of small and large industries alike. The many benefits are an obvious boon to business, and organizations that have adopted this new progression are sure to bloom because of it. However, as with many mobile-based technologies, we cannot forget or ignore the possible threats that arise with any new technology.
Tomorrow, we’ll discuss some of the issues that face future mobile ERP development and security policies that an ERP consultant can address that will reduce your vulnerability to stolen-device breaches.