Too many of us roam the US with a tablet, a cell phone, or a laptop- with a desktop in our office. Often, all three mobile units are at our beck and call.

The problem arises when we don’t truly effect security on these mobile devices. We adopted the use of BitLocker (Microsoft) when it became the norm in Windows 7. We still use it.
Unfortunately that software is not available for our phones or tablets. (NOTE: We are converting from Android to Windows tablet/laptops very shortly. That will mean BitLocker will be in effect.)

Here’s the problem. Most folks use programs that work on our mobile devices and keep data ON the device and in the cloud. If you use a program that keeps a set of data on your mobile device, so you can access it when you are unable to connect to the net, there’s a problem.

Any app that explains it has an “offline mode” is clearly storing data on your device. But, some apps do that- without once detailing that “feature” to you. Either way, data stored on a non-secured device is an issue.

Because if the device is stolen or lost, that data you thought was confidential is now at risk. (You do recall when various federal agencies misplaced laptops with financial and social security data of US citizens on those units. Ooops.)

If you are an attorney or financial professional, you have a legal obligation to keep your clients’s data confidential.  And, if we fully believe Symantec  (Symantec Smart Phone Honey Stick Project), only 50% of us will ever be contacted to retrieve our units. But, 83% of the “finders” accessed business information and 89% accessed personal information on those devices regardless of whether they contacted the owners.

Moreover, many of you (we DON’T) have your devices backed up to the “cloud”. Whether that backup system is your phone company, Apple, Google, or whatever, you don’t own that data. The agency (Verizon, Sprint, Apple, etc.) storing it does. And, if someone shows up at their doorstep demanding their data (sometimes with a warrant, sometimes without one), these folks generally turn it over. And, you usually don’t get notified.

(Our devices are synchronized and backed up to local, desktop or server, devices. We use a program that lets all files and photos to be in sync, and all Outlook data synched. Except for confidential information- which is never synched to the mobile device, unless that device has security. Which is why we are leaving our lovely Samsung Android tablets for Windows tablets. [We still are arguing between Microsoft and Samsung devices.])

So, if you have data on your device that you (foolishly) had backed up to the cloud that had incriminating evidence about a client, a friend, or even yourself…

You don’t really need me to complete that sentence, do you?

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