PreVeil is excited to announce the release of its highly anticipated device management capabilities. Device management enhances users’ ability to secure their email and files by also giving them full control over which devices can access their account.
How is all this magic achieved? Read on to find out.
Why you need device management
Device management means that you have the ability to control which devices can access your account. Why would you want to able to do these things?
Well, assume you’ve lost your smartphone or computer with a PreVeil account. That account holds your important work messages and files. You wouldn’t want the information located there to fall into the wrong hands. PreVeil’s device management feature allows you to remotely lock the lost device. When a device is locked, it is unable to show any data or perform any actions in the PreVeil system. If the locked device is found, it can be unlocked from any other device with the same PreVeil account.
Device management isn’t just for users. If you’re using PreVeil at work and you’re an IT administrator, you’ll be able to view and manage users’ devices, and you’ll also be able to lock (and unlock) user devices if they are reported as lost or stolen (and then found).
Device Management automatically provided
You understand why device management is important. So how do you access it?
The device management capability was automatically added to your account during a recent software update. Did you notice the new menu items?
As of the update, you should be able to see the Device Management option under the Settings menu or Security menu on your account. Click on the Device Management option and you’ll see the screen below:
Lock. Unlock
To lock or unlock accounts your accounts, simply click on the menu on the right with three dots. You’ll see the option to Rename or Unlock your device. If the device is Unlocked already, you’ll see the option to Lock the device. See below:
If I were to lock Le iPhone, I would get a message on my iPhone telling me that the account has been locked.
To unlock this device, I would simply go to the Device Management menu and click the Unlock option in the menu. This will enable me to regain access to my account and see any messages or file updates that took place during the time that the account was disabled.
Additionally, administrators will see a screen with all the PreVeil accounts they manage when they view the management dashboard shown below. Similar to the actions the individual can take, the administrator can lock and unlock accounts from this screen.
Making security easy to use
PreVeil believes that security needs to be simple because inevitably, ease of use improves security compliance. At the same time, PreVeil also wants to ensure that user information is protected with the gold standard of encryption – is end-to-end encryption.
Device Management means that any lost or compromised device (or compromised individual) can be cryptographically locked out in seconds with the click of a button. The device owner still has their data intact, but the device keys themselves have been revoked.
Additionally, in a world where BYOD is increasingly common and individuals are incessantly on the move and need to use their mobile phones, tablets, laptops, Device Management provides admins with a central mechanism for monitoring and managing access to which devices have access to corporate data. Unlike MDMs that make a best effort to remotely wipe data, Device Management ensures that when keys are revoked there is a cryptographic guarantee that those devices will not be able to gain access going forward.
Conclusion
We’d love to get your feedback on this new feature. Tell us what you think and please do tell us if there’s anything you think we can do better. As always, you can reach us on [email protected]