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Contributed article by Adam Ely, co-founder and CSO of Bluebox Security

Mobile data security and vulnerabilities will influence the industry in 2015

2014 will be known as the year of security breaches. From Home Depot to Walmart to Walgreens, mobile data security made the headlines this year and threats are only becoming more sophisticated. In addition to security breaches, we also saw a long list of vulnerabilities discovered in 2014. These events not only had a major impact in 2014, but also will undoubtedly continue to influence the industry in 2015:

A shift toward mobile app security

Mobile app security will become increasingly important in 2015 as mobile applications that contain sensitive data will be more widely used in enterprises and employees will demand safe and secure mobile applications to protect their information. I expect to see a greater emphasis on securing mobile applications, as well as the actual code and data accessed by those apps in the coming year.

A "New Relic" of Mobile Security ... is your enterprise ready?

In 2014, both enterprises and consumers aggressively adopted mobile for work and personal use. We will see an increased demand for mobile analytics in 2015. Enterprises will need to monitor the real-time security posture of apps and data throughout the mobile ecosystem to protect against threats. There will also be an increased need in the coming year for solutions that track usage and attack patterns, allowing organizations to best protect business-critical data. These solutions will also proactively prevent attacks before they become a headline problem. All in all, in 2015 we'll see enterprises focusing on protecting the data, instead of the device.

In 2014, iOS 8 was released, making the platform less restrictive, while Android added enterprise security features to its operating system, making it more secure. In 2015, the two operating systems will continue to resemble one another, forcing enterprises to closely evaluate exactly what they're securing, since they can no longer rely on operating systems to be completely trustable.

This year, we've realized that device-level security just isn't cutting it. In 2015, the cost of enterprise mobility management (EMM) will decrease as it becomes commoditized. We'll also see enterprises moving away from managing employee's physical devices and instead looking to secure the data.

In 2014, researchers discovered multiple vulnerabilities, including Heartbleed, Master Key and Shellshock. Malware and hackers evolve every day, so it's no longer a matter of if a breach will occur, but when. For example, we've known about SQL injection for 10 years, yet we're still seeing apps developed that are vulnerable to it. With data breaches bound to happen, we must put proper security measures in place and protect the most sensitive part of our enterprises, the data. As we reflect on 2014 and the data security events that occurred, it's clear that mobile security is sure to be top of mind as we head into 2015.

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