Microsoft finds that mobile threat defense and intelligence are now critical part of cyber defense

When handled and analyzed properly, actionable data holds the key to enabling solid, 360-degree cybersecurity strategies and responses. However, many corporations lack effective tools to collect, analyze, and act on the massive volume of security events that arise daily across their mobile fleet. An international bank recently faced this challenge. 

By deploying Pradeo Security alongside Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), the bank was able to harness its mobile data and better protect the company.

Organizations rely on mobility to increase productivity and improve the customer experience. But the proliferation of smartphones and other mobile devices has also expanded the attack surface of roughly 5 billion mobile devices in the world, many used to handle sensitive corporate data. To safeguard company assets, organizations need to augment their global cyber defense strategy with mobile threat intelligence.

In 2017, the Chief Information Security Office (CISO) of an international bank recognized that the company needed to address the risk of data exposure on mobile. Cybercriminals exploit smart phones at the application, network, and OS levels, and infiltrate them through mobile applications 78 percent of the time. 

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was also scheduled to go into effect the following year. The company needed to better secure its mobile data to safeguard the company and comply with the new privacy regulations.

The company deployed Microsoft Endpoint Manager to gain visibility into the mobile devices accessing corporate resources. Microsoft Endpoint Manager is the recently announced convergence of Microsoft Intune and Configuration Manager functionality and data, plus new intelligent actions, offering seamless, unified endpoint management. Then, to ensure the protection of these corporate resources, the company deployed Pradeo Security Mobile Threat Defense, which is integrated with Microsoft.

Pradeo Security and Microsoft Endpoint Manager work together to apply conditional access policies to each mobile session. Conditional access policies allow the security team to automate access based on the circumstances. For example, if a user tries to gain access using a device that is not managed by Microsoft Endpoint Manager, the user may be forced to enroll the device. 

Pradeo Security enhances Microsoft Endpoint Manager’s capabilities by providing a clear security status of any mobile devices accessing corporate data, which Microsoft can evaluate for risk. If a smartphone is identified as non-compliant based on the data that Pradeo provides, conditional access policies can be applied.

For example, if the risk is high, the bank could set policies that block access. The highly granular and customizable security policies offered by Pradeo Security gave the CISO more confidence that the mobile fleet was better protected against threats specifically targeting his industry.

The bank also connected Pradeo Security to Microsoft Defender ATP in order to automatically feed it with always current mobile security inputs. Microsoft Defender ATP helps enterprises prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to advanced cyberthreats. Pradeo Security enriches Microsoft Defender ATP with mobile security intelligence. 

Immediately, the bank was able to see information on the latest threats targeting their mobile fleet. Only a few weeks later, there was enough data in the Microsoft platform to draw trends and get a clear understanding of the company’s mobile threat environment.

Pradeo relies on a network of millions of devices (iOS and Android) across the globe to collect security events related to the most current mobile threats. Pradeo leverages machine learning mechanisms to distill and classify billions of raw and anonymous security facts into actionable mobile threat intelligence.

The bank’s mobile ecosystem entirely relies on Pradeo and Microsoft, as its security team finds it to be the most cost-effective combination when it comes to mobile device management, protection and intelligence.