Reviewed and updated in October 2026.
Mobile devices are part of everyday work, and every company has to balance flexibility against protection: users should adopt mobile tools willingly, while the infrastructure stays safe. Every system, however strong, has a weak spot that ultimately determines its strength. In most cases that weak spot is the end user.
People make mistakes. Managing many usernames and passwords is a real pain, and it leads to workarounds: weak, easy-to-guess passwords or the same password for every account. Some users keep their passwords in unapproved third-party apps, and IT loses sight of where that sensitive information is stored (device, cloud), how it is stored (plain text or encrypted) and who can access it.
Almost everyone carries at least one mobile device all day, usually a smartphone. Why not use it as the central tool that makes security both easy and strong? Since end users are the biggest security issue, make security easier for them, and your infrastructure becomes stronger.
Many solutions offer Single Sign-on (SSO): a user authenticates once and can then access other company resources without re-authenticating, just like on an office computer. Many of them rely on certificate-based authentication, which combines a high level of security with broad integration into existing IT infrastructures and is transparent for the end user.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) confirms that users are who they say they are by requesting an additional factor. The technology has existed for a long time, for example the hardware token used for VPN connections, and today any managed mobile device (phone, tablet, watch) can confirm a user's identity before a connection is allowed. A token is easily left at home or at the office; a phone rarely is.
Not every MFA method offers the same protection, though. CISA recommends phishing-resistant methods such as FIDO2/WebAuthn and PKI-based smart cards and describes SMS and voice codes as a last resort. NIST SP 800-63B-4, finalized in July 2025, also accepts synced passkeys at its middle assurance level. Read more in Demystifying Security: Multi-Factor Authentication and Goodbye Passwords, Hello Passkeys.
Data protection goes beyond the typical VPN connection from a laptop back to the corporate network, for example when working from home or on weekend duty. With mobility at the center of IT, apps and app containers need to be secured as well, with user authentication and encryption that protects corporate data at rest and in transit. Containerized app solutions from the major UEM vendors achieve this for public and in-house apps alike. The options are compared in Demystifying Security: Virtual Private Network (VPN).
A compromised mobile device must not be able to connect to company infrastructure. A UEM solution combined with Mobile Threat Defense (MTD) enforces this, so that only compliant devices and compliant apps get access. More on this in Demystifying Security: Mobile Threat Defense (MTD).
Zero Trust goes one step further. It treats no user, device or network as trusted by default and evaluates every access request against signals such as identity, device health and location. Behavioral analytics can help by flagging unusual activity, for example a sign-in from another continent while the user is scheduled to work from home a few blocks away. Depending on the risk, the policy blocks the connection or asks the user to re-authenticate. NIST describes the model in SP 800-207; our article Demystifying Security: Zero Trust explains it step by step.
Effective security does not have to be complex. Single Sign-on and Multi-Factor Authentication protect data and accounts while reducing frustration and confusion for end users, because they ask for less, not more.
Security is what we all seek. The question is whether the right tools are in place to get the job done.
Want to know where your environment stands? Our team supports endpoint security and endpoint management projects, and our trainings prepare your administrators. Contact us with any questions.