- [Narrator] One of the primary objectives of mobile device
management software is ensuring that an organization
can track all of it's mobile device assets.
Inventory control is a critical component
of enterprise security programs.
When smartphones and tablets are lost or stolen
the organization loses a physical asset as well the data
stored on that device if it's not encrypted.
While organizations may implement encryption and other
security controls to prevent thieves from gaining access
to information stored on a device, they still incur the
financial loss associated with the device itself.
With smartphone and tablet prices now reaching upwards
of $1000 for high-end devices,
that's a very serious concern.
Consider that over 3.1 million mobile devices
are stolen annually in the United States alone,
and start to do the math on costs.
Faced with these statistics, organizations must maintain
accurate inventories of mobile devices
to be financially responsible.
Asset tracking software helps an organization keep tabs
on its inventory of computing assets.
In most cases, organizations are not only concerned
about smartphones and tablets,
but also laptop and desktop computers, servers,
printers and other computing equipment.
Asset tracking systems are often integrated with device
management solutions, and/or IT service management packages.
Asset tracking software should manage the entire lifecycle
of a device, that begins with a request for a new device,
continues through the ordering and receiving process,
includes the initial configuration of the device,
application of security policies, and labeling of the device
as the organization's property.
Assigns the device to a user, and possibly transfers
that assignment to other users over time, and concludes
with the device decommissioning process that includes
removing all organization data from the device
and then disposing of the device by either selling it
as surplus property or otherwise discarding it.
In addition to performing these asset control tasks
some organizations may wish to have real time access
to device location information.
This is commonly done in fields like delivery companies
where management would like to use the GPS capabilities
of mobile devices to track driver location
for performance management, route optimization,
and other issues.
These screenshots are from the Xora GPS monitoring package,
which is one solution that offers this technology.
The use of GPS tracking technology does
have real privacy concerns, and organizations
may be legally or ethically bound
to disclose their use of this technology to employees
subject to monitoring.
Controls on GPS monitoring may include: strict limits
on the individuals who can access GPS location information,
the ability of monitored individuals to disable
the monitoring on demand with notice to administrators,
automatic disablement of monitoring software outside
of working hours, and clear disclosure of the monitoring
and authorized uses of the monitoring data.
The various technologies available to assist
with mobile device tracking play an important role
in mobile device security.