Today’s fast-paced corporate environment has shifted work away from a corporate desk. Teams working on documents on trains, responding to client emails in coffee shops and attending video conferences at construction sites.
Many companies rely on mobile broadband to stay connected on the move, using pocket Wi-Fi dongles, SIM-enabled laptops or smartphone hotspots to access corporate data over cellular networks. Mobile broadband is very secure and much safer than public Wi-Fi networks.
The Core Secret: Encryption Built In
Understanding what happens to your data when you send it over the airwaves helps you understand why mobile broadband is secure.
When you connect a laptop to a mobile broadband router or hotspot, your data is transmitted via cellular signals to the closest network tower. Cellular networks (eg 4G and 5G) are designed from the ground up with encryption included.
Encryption is like a digital scrambler. the moment your data leaves your device it is encrypted into a complex secret code. Even if a cybercriminal intercepted the radio signals floating through the air, they’d see only a jumbled mess of meaningless characters. Only when the data safely reaches the secure equipment of the cellular network provider can it be decrypted.
Mobile Broadband vs. Public Wi-Fi
Public Wi-Fi is convenient and free, so lots of remote workers connect to it at coffee shops, hotels or airports. But public Wi-Fi is well known to be unsafe.
Cybercriminals can easily set up Wi-Fi networks that they name things like “Free_Hotel_WiFi” but are actually “fake”. If an employee accidentally connects to a bogus network, the hacker can see every password they type and every corporate file they open. This is what is known as a Man-in-the-Middle attack.
With mobile broadband this threat disappears completely. No middleman, as your device connects directly to a major telecom provider’s secure cellular tower via a validated SIM card. A hacker sitting in the same coffee shop can’t see your cellular data connection, can’t intercept it, can’t tamper with it.
The SIM Card’s Authentication Powers
All mobile broadband devices have a physical or digital SIM card (eSIM). A sim card is not merely a way to keep track of data usage, it is a powerful security device.
SIM cards have a special cryptographic key to prove to the cell tower that your device is exactly who it says it is. This hardware-based authentication makes it extremely difficult for unauthorised devices to clone your connection or sneak into your corporate network. Unlike the shared passwords used in traditional Wi-Fi networks that can be written down, stolen or guessed, a SIM card connection is not easily copied.
How 5G Changes the Security Game
If your business is upgrading to 5G mobile broadband, you are opening the door to the most secure cellular standard ever created.
5G provides new security levels that close the small holes in the old 3G and 4G networks. For example, 5G networks encrypt in full the unique identity number of your device (the IMSI) when it communicates with a tower. This prevents bad actors from tracking the physical location of your remote workers or figuring out what types of devices your company is using.
Simple Ways To Make Mobile Broadband More Secure
Mobile broadband technology is secure, but human error can cause security lapses. Here are some simple practices to ensure that your remote workforce has complete data protection.
Use a VPN
Cellular data is encrypted between your device and the cell tower, but it eventually makes its way onto the broader internet before it reaches your office servers. Ensure your employees have a corporate VPN enabled to protect your data as it travels. The VPN creates a secure, private digital tunnel from the laptop to your business network.
Change Default Wi-Fi Passwords
If your team uses portable mobile broadband routers (often called Mi-Fi pucks) they have a pre-set Wi-Fi password printed on a sticker inside the device. Sometimes the cybercriminals know the default password formulas used by manufacturers. Always change the hotspot password to a unique and strong password before giving the device to an employee.
Disconnect Automatically
Make sure your employees disable the “Auto-Connect to Available Wi-Fi” setting on their corporate laptops and phones. So the device doesn’t accidentally jump off the protected mobile broadband connection and onto a risky public Wi-Fi network without the employee being aware.
