MobileIron Improves Phishing Protection for iOS, Android Devices

MobileIron phishing protection for iOS and Android devices now detects and remediates phishing attacks. And it does so across all mobile threat vectors, the company announced Wednesday.

MobileIron Threat Defense (MTD) protection now includes support for text and SMS messages, instant messages and social media; plus, other modes of communication beyond corporate emails, such as LinkedIn and Slack. MTD includes on-device and cloud-based phishing URL database lookup to detect and remediate phishing attacks across all mobile threat vectors.

MobileIron’s Christof Baumgartner

“This will help channel partners to bolster sales and services of MobileIron Threat Defense to existing MobileIron Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) customers, helping them to increase customer loyalty and stickiness,” Christof Baumgartner, chief revenue officer at MobileIron, told Channel Futures. “With this announcement, we’re adding more innovation to an already differentiated offering.”

The expanded mobile phishing protection is built on MobileIron UEM. MobileIron Threat Defense offers seamless and continuous on-device phishing protection for business employees. No end-user action is required to deploy MTD on mobile devices that are enrolled in MobileIron’s UEM client. Enrollment is automatic and managed by IT departments.

“Phishing is a simple, yet highly lucrative method for hackers,” said Brian Foster, senior vice president of product management at MobileIron. “All it takes is one click on a malicious link for a hacker to compromise a user’s ID and password. This gives access to a goldmine of data. Unfortunately, hackers are exploiting enterprise security gaps amid the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly targeting mobile devices and applications, which remote workers are using more than ever before to access corporate data.”

Transition to WFH Threatens Security

Phishing, or social attacks, and use of stolen credentials continue to top the chart for threats in Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report  (DBIR).

“First, web applications doubling in breaches sets an ominous tone for the 2021 DBIR,” Gabriel Bassett, data scientist at Verizon and DBIR co-author, recently told Channel Partners, our sister site. “This is heavily tied to the use of stolen credentials. For organizations that have transitioned to supporting a remote workforce using web services, this won’t be as much of an issue. But for organizations just now making that transition, this may be a challenge. The attackers are already waiting for them.”

MobileIron commits to selling through the channel.

“We offer free training and enablement so partners can offer their own deployment, support and life cycle management services,” said Baumgartner. “Partners can also take advantage of the webinar series we’re running to drive pipeline in current customers or prospects.”

Sold as a subscription, MTD allows partners to earn recurring revenue