Considerations for choosing Android in the Enterprise

The perception of Android security being subpar has long been proven incorrect. From Google’s pivot to enterprise in Android 5.0 Lollipop to today, security has been a key focus of every release.

Not convinced?

From 2016-2019 Gartner has ranked Android higher than iOS in a number of areas, including kernel security, exploit protection, network security, workspace isolation and more; the results of which can be found in this report (12/2017) and this report (2019) should you have a Gartner subscription, if not here’s an overview:

Source: Gartner, December 2017. Thanks to Samsung for making this available on the public internet!

Source: Gartner, January 2019. Adapted from this source.

Let’s dive a little deeper into Android security:

The two deployment scenarios that make use of the work profile are the aptly named work profile (BYOD) and work profiles on fully managed device (COPE), the latter replaced by work profiles on company owned devices in Android 11. In both BYOD and the two COPE scenarios, work data is securely isolated and separately encrypted on disk.

iOS may have app sandboxing, but so does Android with each application running as it’s own user ID (UID), with the added benefit of profile isolation providing a separate user space from the parent profile as well! Applications within each profile by default cannot communicate with one another, offering far greater work/personal application isolation than app sandboxing alone.

Android is built up of six major components:

• Applications
• Android framework
• Native libraries
• Android runtime
• Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)
• Kernel

Each of these components are isolated, running in their own domains, meaning should any vulnerability be exploited in one component, it will not grant access to the others by default.

Combined with such capabilities as verified boot, downgrade protection and more, devices are constantly monitored for unauthorised changes and will prevent a boot accordingly, ensuring the device remains secure.

Android benefits from a monthly security patch cycle to maintain high levels of security against exploits and vulnerabilities discovered in the wild.

In 2017 over a billion devices were receiving security patches, this will only have increased further in 2018 following the introduction of Android Enterprise Recommended; devices in the Android Enterprise Recommended programme are mandated to push these updates within 90 days of Google’s release, with the Android One programme complimenting this further by mandating a security update every 30 days.

Since Android 10, Google has been migrating core Android OS components into independently updatable mainline modules. These take aspects of the OS that have previously only been updatable through an OEM-distributed OTA update (as and when that OEM felt like doing one) and allow them to be updated additionally through Google Play, mostly in the background like many other applications.

In Android 10 the number of modules sat at 12, while in Android 13 this has grown to 30 modules, including connectivity, multimedia, and core framework components.

In addition to monthly security updates (SPLs, security patch level, delivered as SMRs, security maintenance releases), Google Play System Updates can be distributed as and when required to tackle component-level security issues or bug fixes. This dramatically improves time to resolution for issues in comparison to other OS platforms.

Google’s Play Protect suite of solutions includes the world’s largest antivirus service, analysing 500,000 applications, and scanning over 50 billion on Google Play, on-device and crawling the web every day.

Play Protect is always-on, and will take action on any known potentially harmful application (PHA) found on a device, as well as any known bad websites via the Safe Browsing service to proactively warn users of danger.

Play Protect of course isn’t infallible, and I’d support organisations who augment Play Protect’s capabilities with an MTD solution, however it’s an ever-improving service utilising machine learning to evolve over time, and does a pretty good job for most use cases. Combined with options to prevent installation of applications from unknown sources, USB debugging and more, a corporate device can safely and successfully avoid PHAs.

Android’s open source nature allows anyone, anywhere to access the code that makes up the Android operating system.

Vulnerabilities and bugs therefore aren’t dependent on Google for discovery, but can be found by anyone who takes the time to dive into the repositories; the source remains under constant scrutiny by the wider community which leads to a stronger OS.

Some years ago recommending an Android device in the enterprise may have raised an eyebrow. Prior to Android 5.0 security was not perceived to be a priority and management (outside of Samsung at least) was hardly reliable.

A lot has changed since then.

GMS certified devices since Android 6.0 are mandated to support the Android Enterprise solution sets, guaranteeing a reliable, consistent user experience across OEMs.

The days of bringing devices on board and hoping the exchange profile applies successfully are very much over.

Even today things are improving still, with the introduction of OEMConfig OEMs can extend on the base set of Android Enterprise APIs in order to deliver bespoke management capabilities in a way that’s faster and more reliable than ever before. OEMConfig offers zero-day support for new features and capabilities without EMM vendors having to lift a finger.

Check out the linked article to understand how OEMConfig will transform Android management.

Organisations demand flexibility; in process, use-case, form factor and budget. Android is the most versatile mobile OS on the planet.

Considering BYOD? Dedicated? Something in between? With four individual solution sets to choose from, Android offers a management scenario to suit all applications.

From: What is Android Enterprise and why is it used?

The in-depth document What is Android Enterprise and why is it used? outlines these deployment scenarios and their applications, while this infographic offers a deep-dive on each deployment scenario specifically.

Whether your organisation wants to permit personal devices whilst managing corporate data on a secure, isolated, separately encrypted profile, or desires full control over the device, Android Enterprise offers all of this in a way that is quick and simple to manage.

Perhaps devices are primarily located in a warehouse or other close-proximity situation where it makes sense to utilise a master device to provision devices with a bump, or perhaps devices are shipped directly to end users and should be set to provision over the air. Android can accommodate these scenarios and more.

There are a number of provisioning methods available for Android devices, including:

• NFC bump
• QR code scan
• DPC identifier
• Zero-touch enrolment
• Knox Mobile Enrolment (KME)
• Other OEM-specific provisioning methods

As above, an NFC bump makes sense where many devices are located in close proximity, while QR code and DPC identifier offer a means for remote provisioning in ways that are easy to understand.

For newer devices (8.0+) to be ready to provision straight from the box, zero-touch enrolment provides the ability to pre-configure devices before the box is even opened.

For Samsung devices running Knox 2.8 or higher, the very same is supported through Knox Mobile Enrolment (without the 8.0 requirement).

More information of provisioning methods can be found in What is Android Enterprise and why is it used? and this handy infographic.

Are phones and tablets too.. consumer? Does your organisation rely on fixed endpoints, smartphone systems, bespoke logistics or warehouse scanners, specialised interactive displays, or something else?

Not only has Android shipped on phones and tablets in screen sizes ranging from the minute to the enormous, Android can be equally found on rugged devices, smart displays, point-of-sale endpoints, projectors and many other specialised hardware types.

If a form factor doesn’t exist that suits an organisation's needs, one can be developed with any number of specialist hardware manufacturers.

No matter the application, there is – or can be – a form factor to suit. Android isn’t limited to only phones and tablets in a couple of sizes.

Like Android’s flexibility in form factor, the same is true for budget.

While Apple continues to inflate the prices of their product lines to numbers which far exceed the budgets of many organisations (to their detriment), an Android Enterprise Recommended, GMS certified and enterprise-suitable device can be picked up for as little as £70, cheaper still with carrier-arranged hardware funds.

Organisations can of course opt for flagship handsets and pay the premiums associated with these feature-rich devices, however there’s no obligation to do so.

Those purchased on the mid-range scale benefit equally from security patches, OS upgrades, excellent battery life and more. These days budget doesn’t mean poor quality.

Taking Gartner’s research into consideration, highlighting Android’s clear lead in security controls over iOS, here are some examples of how Android excels in simplicity of management:

A corporate version of Google Play permitting only applications approved by administrators; the primary Play Store on fully managed devices, or the badged Play Store for work profile-enabled devices.

Managed Google Play offers complete control over the applications permitted on a managed device without affecting the native look and feel of the device.

In conjunction with managed Google or Google Play accounts, applications can be distributed silently and simply, updated automatically, restricted from uninstallation and more.

Add in the ability to create, manage and deploy in-house applications with only a few clicks, and a similar process for deploying web applications for direct access to corporate sites and resources, and managed Google Play becomes a one-stop solution for all forms of quick, simple application management.

What’s more, organisations can take application distribution a step further with managed configurations; inputting within the EMM the relevant details, these applications can be preconfigured on installation, meaning far less work for end-users setting up their devices.

System update control is critical in enterprise, administrators need the control to be able to force updates on devices, postpone updates, and schedule them for outside of working hours.

Application update control may be just as important, whether to update immediately, over Wi-Fi only, not at all or during a scheduled time slot.

Android does all of this, providing complete, granular control over when and how updates occur for managed devices to ensure devices remain secure, or to offer a little extra time for testing before initiating a corporate roll-out. Samsung’s e-FOTA service takes this a step further, offering the ability to target a particular OS version until such time later versions have been validated by the business.

It’s not all about how a device is managed during business hours, employees may be glued to their devices 7 days a week! Providing tools to promote a stronger work/life balance by encouraging downtime and trust amongst employees is crucial to ensure a happy, healthy and productive workforce. Here’s how Android can help:

Downtime is an important aspect of modern life. Being always-on, always connected can be detrimental to employee health and well-being, so providing tools to quickly and easy fully disconnect from work is an incredibly important feature, one which puts end-users in control as much as administrators.

The work profile can be turned off with a simple toggle of the quicksettings tile, or within the app drawer (OEM launcher support required) at any time, and from Android 11 can even be scheduled through Digital Wellbeing. All corporate applications will temporarily disable and no notifications, sync or any other related activities will be performed until the profile is turned back on.

For countries with laws around the right to disconnect, EMM policies can automate this functionality as required, where supported, and from Android 11 can also set policies depicting the maximum amount of time the work profile can be disabled to ensure employees can't abuse this feature.

Another key benefit of the work profile over legacy, full-device management for BYOD deployments is privacy.

When an Android device is enrolled into a BYOD programme, the organisation creates a dedicated work profile on the device in which corporate applications and data reside; there is little device-level management the organisation can enforce, but more importantly, there is almost nothing an organisation can see in the parent profile (device) from a personal data point of view.

The apps users install, the data users generate, it is all completely invisible to the EMM solution managing the work profile, as the EMM agent (or DPC) sits within the isolated work profile it creates and not within the parent profile – or device-wide as it would be on other platforms.

For end-users, hoping the organisation is opting not to sync personal data up to the EMM console is not good enough. Choose a platform that doesn’t permit this to begin with: Android.

Check out this dedicated article about BYOD and privacy for more on this topic.

As Android 11 relies on the work profile deployment scenario for enabling its work profiles on company owned devices deployment scenario, all of the above equally applies to COPE deployments on anything running Android 11 or later.

With the above in mind, hopefully the case for Android in the enterprise has been adequately made, but this is only scratching the surface. For more details on Android Enterprise, the modern management solution for Android devices, check out the vast selection of documents, guides and articles located here: Android.