Managed network and mobility services provider
MetTel is leveraging Check Point’s mobile security to protect organizations against evolving cyberthreats that come with a rapidly growing mobile workforce and increasing use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The New York City-based company is using
Check Point’s
Harmony Mobile suite of services for its new fully managed Mobile Threat Defense solution that aims to provide broader protection against
mobile cyberthreats while enduring secure access to corporate data without compromising user's work environment or privacy.
It’s a difficult balance to strike, according to
Max Silber, vice president of mobility and IoT at MetTel.“Overly restrictive controls can hinder productivity, frustrate end users, and slow down business workflows,” Silber told MSSP Alert, adding that the new managed mobile security service “was designed to be lightweight, frictionless, and zero-touch for the end user. It delivers real-time threat prevention without degrading performance or requiring behavior changes.”
When combined with MetTel’s mobile device management (MDM) platform, businesses can retain their agility while gaining centralized visibility, automation, and compliance, he said.
Security in a Distributed Business World
Check Point’s Mobile Harmony services are designed to offer protection against threats across applications, networks, and operating systems, while making it easy for security teams to manage at scale and for users to adopt quickly. The offering protects against a range of cyberthreats, including phishing, man-in-the-middle attacks, infected devices accessing corporate networks, and jailbreak and rooting attempts.
They also can detect OS vulnerabilities and misinformation. Mobile Harmony’s services include an application that analyzes activity on the devices, such as downloads and network access, a behavioral risk engine to automatically detect and mitigate suspicious activity; ThreatCloud AI Intelligence for real-time intelligence to protect against phishing, bots, and other threats; and a mobile gateway and dashboard for centralized management, including alerts via the
Check Point Infinity Portal.
Such capabilities are important as enterprise IT environments become more distributed and the workforce more mobile, Silber said.
“Between hybrid workforces, mobile-first operations, and the increasing use of SaaS applications, employees are accessing sensitive data from beyond the corporate perimeter more than ever,” he said. “This fragmentation has expanded the attack surface dramatically. Traditional endpoint security no longer offers complete protection, especially as threats increasingly target mobile vectors like SMS phishing, rogue apps, and insecure Wi-Fi networks.
Silber said that “enterprises must now shift from perimeter-based defenses to continuous, edge-device protection that travels with the user no matter where they are working.”
Growing Mobile Cyberthreats
Mobile cyberthreats are a rapidly growing problem. A report last month by cybersecurity firm
Malwarebytes said that in the first half of the year, its researchers saw a
significant jump in mobile threats, including a 151% year-over-year rise in
threats against Android devices. The overall numbers include a 692% spike in SMS-based malware between April and May, and a 147% increase in spyware, particularly in February and March.
Such numbers indicate a shift in strategy used by bad actors.
“Attackers are scaling operations, fine-tuning delivery, and exploiting both human psychology and systemic weak points,” wrote Pieter Arntz, a malware analyst with Malwarebytes. “Take Spyloan, for example, a threat that lures targets with incredible loan conditions (low rates, no pre-check) but ends up stealing from desperate people. We saw a significant spike of this predatory app in May, which could well signal a resurgence for the summer.”
In addition, banking trojans and spyware are outpacing more typical threats like adware and riskware, and the threats are becoming more sophisticated, Arntz wrote, adding that “threat actors are actively distributing malware through both official and unofficial app channels, often cloaking malicious apps behind layers of legitimacy.”
AI to Protect Against AI
AI is also complicating the picture, with the emerging technology bringing advanced threat detection by quickly recognizing anomalies, identifying zero-day malware, and responding to threats in real-time, MetTel’s Silber said. In the company’s Mobile Threat Defense solution, AI capabilities include scanning applications, network behavior, and device-level telemetry to prevent attacks before they occur.
“On the other hand, attackers are also leveraging AI to craft more convincing phishing lures, automate exploitation, and evade traditional defenses,” Silber said. “This makes it critical for enterprises to adopt AI-driven mobile threat defense that is continuously updated, context-aware, and adaptable to new attack vectors as they emerge.”
A Fully Managed Service
MetTel is delivering its Mobile Threat Detection offering as a fully managed service that includes streamlined setup and policy configuration, bulk enrollment for corporate-owned devices, real-time threat monitoring, troubleshooting, and integration with MDM platforms. It also includes pathways for organizations that want to take advantage of Check Point’s advanced support.
While MetTel offers its mobility services directly to businesses, it also works with other MSSPs and MSPs to enable their own flavors of service offerings, Silber said. “Under that model, MetTel will typically provide mobile network devices, network activation, and pre-configuration [and] staging and kitting services as part of our device lifecycle portfolio,” he said. “MSPs can also work with MetTel as channel partners to provide our full end-to-end service directly to their customers.”
