Scams cost €300m a year – here’s how to protect your business

The ever-increasing importance of mobile phone security, the advent of device as a service (Daas) offerings and the benefits of 5G are some of the key trends which businesses should pay attention to in 2024, according to Three Ireland head of enterprise and public sector Karl Duffy.

“Mobile phone scams are costing Irish people and businesses €300 million annually according to statistics from ComReg,” he says. “At an enterprise level, digital transformation, cloud adoption and the rise of hybrid working means that more and more sensitive company data is being accessed and stored on mobile devices. They’re on an equal footing with laptops in terms of access to sensitive information.”

But there is an important difference between the two. “A laptop might have seven or eight layers of security, but a phone might have one and the organisation still has the same amount of data on each of them,” he points out. “Sixty per cent of enterprises consider mobiles to be their biggest security risk. It’s like locking the front door very securely and leaving the back door open.”

There is a certain degree of complacency on the part of some organisations when it comes to mobile security. “When we speak to people, they say they have mobile device management systems in place. That’s effectively putting a second profile on the phone and allows you to wipe data remotely and so on, but it doesn’t stop dodgy SMS messages or emails with spyware and malware or other threats. Eighty per cent of organisations fail to have any layer of protection on mobile devices or confuse security with device management.”

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Three works closely with customers to secure their mobile devices from these threats with its 3Mobile protect solution, powered by Corrata, he adds. “It puts security around the device and all the latest threats and scams are stopped in their tracks. It’s gamified and gives you a security score out of 100. The administrator can see the scores and intervene if they are low. They can get users to upgrade software and so on or they can wipe the device if sensitive company information is at risk.”

The 3Mobile protect solution also has some other interesting functions. “You can restrict the apps employees can use to prevent threats. Also, if the employee is on a particular tariff with a provider, you can ensure they don’t run up a massive data bill by watching Netflix while on holiday in the Maldives, for example. It’s really easy to set up. You just download it from the app store, and it works in the background.”

Daas offerings take away the capital expenditure headache for organisations who may be faced with bills for replacing thousands of mobile phones at the same time. “It switches it to operational expenditure, and customers also have access to a fast repair and replace service,” Duffy explains. “The device configuration and set up is standardised and managed through the Daas platform, meaning you can set up hundreds or thousands of devices at once from a central console, and track and monitor those assets centrally for performance and eventually replacement.”

It also comes with sustainability benefits. “The average life of a phone is three years, and they usually end up in a drawer somewhere after that,” says Duffy. “With Daas, we don’t waste the device when it comes to replacement. We take the device back and provide the customer with a new one. We either reissue the old device or responsibly recycle it for parts and manage the e-waste sustainably.

“There are billions of mobile phones in use worldwide,” he continues. “If we can extend their life by one year, we can reduce CO2 emissions by 21.4 million tonnes. That’s the equivalent of taking 4.7 million cars off the road. If you want flexible financial control at the same time as reducing your environmental impact, no other solution can do it.”

Turning to 5G he points out that Three has invested over €2 billion in its network infrastructure over the years. “We now have 90 per cent 5G population coverage. Usage is growing by 20 per cent year on year. Enterprises are starting to learn what 5G can do for them in terms of future proofing their business and improving user experience. It’s typically 10 times faster than 4G with much lower latency. And if you are a Three enterprise customer you can have 5G free on your existing tariff. Three has the largest 5G network in the country and it’s there to be used.”