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Device Security

Device security management covers the unique challenges of securing endpoints like IoT devices and mobile devices, including deployment models, shadow IT risks, patching, and wireless communication vulnerabilities.

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About this video

Every device connected to a network is classified as a node, with endpoints being those devices that send and receive traffic at the edges of the network. While most endpoints receive adequate security coverage, IoT devices and mobile devices introduce a distinct set of challenges that standard management practices often fail to address. These devices require dedicated consideration around deployment models, access controls, and ongoing maintenance to ensure they do not become weak points in an organization's security posture. One of the most pressing concerns is shadow IT, which occurs when employees acquire and connect devices to the network without authorization from the IT department. As consumer technology becomes more accessible and affordable, this risk grows, making it essential for organizations to establish clear policies on what devices are permitted, who can procure them, and how they will be governed once on the network. Patching and updating IoT devices presents an additional challenge, since many of these devices were never designed with traditional IT management in mind. Mobile devices compound these concerns by relying heavily on wireless communication technologies such as cellular, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and near-field communication. Wireless transmission is inherently less secure than wired communication, so ensuring these devices use strong, current security protocols is critical to protecting the data they send and receive. Because IoT and mobile devices vary widely in function and form, they may also require different management approaches depending on their role and risk profile within the organization.

What you'll learn

Identify the security concerns associated with IoT devices, mobile devices, and shadow IT in enterprise environments
Describe common deployment models and management considerations for endpoint devices, including personally owned and organization-issued equipment

What's covered

Special Endpoint Device Security

Endpoints vs Intermediary
- Intermediary Devices
- Endpoint Devices
- IoT and Mobile Devices
Deployment Models
- Organization-Supplied Devices
- Personally Owned Devices
- Shadow IT Concerns
Mobile Device Concerns
- Wireless Capabilities
  - Cellular and Wi-Fi
  - Bluetooth and NearField
- Secure Protocols Required
IoT Device Challenges
- Devices New to Network
- Patching and Updates
- Security Installation

Key terms

Endpoint: Any device that connects to a network, including computers, smartphones, tablets, and IoT devices.
Internet of Things: A network of physical devices embedded with sensors and software that connect and exchange data over the internet.
Shadow IT: The use of unauthorized software, systems, or services within an organization without IT department knowledge or approval. Shadow IT creates security blind spots because unmanaged assets fall outside standard patching, monitoring, and access controls.
Patch Management: The process of acquiring, testing, and installing software updates to fix vulnerabilities and improve functionality.
Attack Surface: The total set of points in a system where an unauthorized user can attempt to enter or extract data.
Vulnerability: A weakness in a system, application, or process that can be exploited by a threat actor.
Bring Your Own Device: Bring Your Own Device is a policy that permits employees to use personal devices to access corporate systems and data, introducing security challenges around data segregation, device management, and policy enforcement.
Network Segmentation: The practice of dividing a network into smaller segments to improve performance and limit the spread of security threats.

Topics

Endpoint Security Iot Security Mobile Device Management Shadow It Wireless Security Device Patching

Transcript

I often find that IT departments do a fairly good job at managing most of the end devices. But there are some devices that get overlooked, devices that have some special needs to them.

Nodes, intermediary devices and endpoints

Every device on the network is called a node. If it's the ones in between nodes, we call those intermediary devices. If it's these other nodes that are sitting on the end that are sending and receiving traffic, we call those endpoints.

There's a lot of security that goes into securing these endpoints, things I talk about in another module. But there are some of these endpoints that have some special security concerns over them. These devices would be things like internet of things devices or mobile devices. There are some special things that we need to consider when we're managing these.

Who owns the device

It used to be that the organization would always supply these devices, but more and more people are bringing their personally owned devices, which causes some problems, things that we need to think about. One of the things we need to decide is, are we going to even allow that? What is the deployment model that we're going to choose with these end devices?

One of the problems is that more and more technology is being put in the hands of people, and it's more and more easy for them to go out and purchase equipment and these devices. What will happen is they will roll these things out without IT permission, and we call this shadow IT. So one of the big concerns is, how are we going to deploy these? Are we going to allow these devices? Are we going to allow them to purchase these devices, and how are we going to control them purchasing these devices?

Patching and wireless

There's a lot to think about when it comes to these end devices, and a big part of that is how are we going to patch these end devices. With the internet of things, we've got things that normally wouldn't be on our network that are now on our network, and how are we going to go about making sure that they're updated and they have the proper security installed on them.

These mobile devices almost always have some sort of wireless capability, such as cellular, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or near field. The problem is that wireless is not really a very secure form of communicating, of sending information. We need to make sure that it's using secure protocols in order to send information securely.

Depending on what these devices are, we might manage them differently.

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