Step Up Your Mobile Security Game with Cisco Security Connector

The alarm on your phone goes off at 6:00 AM. You smash the snooze button and fall back asleep for another 15 minutes. The alarm rings again and now it’s time to start the day. What’s the first thing you do? You pick up your phone on your nightstand and skim through your emails and meetings. From the moment we wake up to the minutes before we end our day, our mobile devices have made both our personal and professional lives easier to navigate.

Because of the flexibility and efficiency that mobile devices provide, they have transformed the way we do business. Whether it’s through collaboration amongst employees, sharing information or communicating through emoji’s, the ability to access your corporate network and data – at anytime and anywhere, right at the palm of your hands – is incredibly powerful.

Therefore, as the adoption of mobile devices for business use continues to rise, so will the opportunities for mobile threats. That’s why, late last year, Apple and Cisco made a commitment to provide the deepest level of visibility and control for enterprise-owned iOS devices. And now, anyone can benefit from that. We are excited to announce that the Cisco Security Connector is now generally available.

Here’s what you can expect from the Cisco Security Connector:

Deep visibility:  A big challenge that businesses face today is the emerging threats from malware that have been traditionally difficult to identify and predict at the network level. Through the Clarity piece of Cisco Security Connector, organizations can gain holistic views of all applications and devices, ensuring compliance during an incident investigation. Security admins can rapidly identify what happened and what is the associated risk across all devices. This ultimately allows organizations to facilitate incident and investigation more effectively while also gaining deep visibility into application and device behaviors.

Greater control:  To no surprise, businesses can’t control what links their employees click on. Workers can be easily deceived with phishing links through emails and text messages; which can expose sensitive business data. With greater control through Umbrella, businesses can prevent users from accidentally connecting to malicious and unwanted sites on any network at any time. Cisco Security Connector allow organizations to protect against data exfiltration to malicious destinations and encrypts internet (DNS) requests.

Seamless integration and automation:  Cisco Security Connector is deployed and automated through a mobile device management (MDM) platform such as Cisco Meraki Systems Manager. Systems Manager is the only endpoint management solution in the market with seamless integration that encompasses a broad range of Cisco solutions – including Cisco’s Identity Services Engine (ISE), AnyConnect VPN software, Aironet wireless access points, Meraki MR wireless access points, and Meraki MX Security and SD-WAN appliances. Systems Manager was recently recognized by the Gartner Peer Insights Customer’s Choice program as one of three Customers’ Choice vendors in enterprise mobility management. As a cloud-based endpoint management solution, Systems Manager helps businesses align with cloud security initiatives, allow simple scalability and can help remotely manage device deployments.

For organizations that already have a MDM solution in place – no worries, Cisco’s got you covered. The Cisco Security Connector has plans to expand its MDM integrations with leading vendors and hope to provide users with a more diverse integration portfolio. So please stay tuned for an official announcement next week on what’s to come!

Together, Apple and Cisco can empower businesses to adequately protect against mobile threats. Enterprise mobility is inevitable. And taking the proactive measures to gain the visibility and control on your mobile devices will ensure that you stay ahead of the game.