Each day, threat actors search for targets whose assets they can compromise for personal gain. Their attacks often use exploit kits that can find gaps in networks that they use to infiltrate and compromise vulnerable systems and applications. Concerns against such exploits have gone up recently. Even tech giant Microsoft has been reminding people nonstop to regularly patch systems to counteract vulnerability exploitation.

Successful attacks using exploit kits can prevent users from accessing files and even entire systems. They can severely affect company operations. As a protective measure, many enterprises have begun requiring their employees to use virtual desktops. Their goal? To control access to their network via a centralized computing environment instead of relying on the security provided in physical assets.

Hence the introduction of virtual working environments that are easily accessible across different devices from anywhere. They give employees the flexibility to work remotely while centrally locking down crucial company data. This convenience and added protection have made virtual desktop use quite appealing for organizations.

However, while virtual desktops offer more security against data loss, they still aren’t immune to attacks. The good news is that their security can improve using an approach called geofencing. Find out how in the next section.

What Can Geofencing Contribute to Data Loss Prevention in Virtual Environments?

Geofencing works by creating a digital fence that limits any user’s access to a corporate network. Its built-in IP geolocation technology can authenticate or restrict user access based on where a device is attempting to log in from. A geofence’s perimeter can be limited to include only specific locations such as within the organization’s office building, a partner’s facility, or a user’s home.

What makes geofencing even more valuable is that it utilizes location-based services like Global Positioning System (GPS) and Wi-Fi networks for greater accuracy. It can be a powerful addition to other data loss prevention (DLP) tools a company employs. It is especially useful for mobile employees in that it can also be enabled on smartphones apart from laptops.

Geofencing also works with endpoint protection solutions. Enabling it on a mobile device management system, for instance, allows IT administrators to implement highly granular restrictions. They can, for instance, only allow smartphones access to restricted files if the devices are logged in to the company’s virtual private network (VPN). Alternatively, they can ask users to complete a multifactor authentication (MFA) process before allowing them access. These approaches provide more security for organizations that allow employees to work remotely.

Accurate and Comprehensive IP Geolocation Data Can Enrich Geofencing Capabilities

We’ve established that geofencing is useful in DLP. However, the technology works best when other advanced solutions that use machine learning, perhaps, complement it. Enterprises can enrich their geofencing applications with an IP geolocation data feed that provides comprehensive and accurate information.

This data feed can provide additional information to bolster solution capabilities. It covers both the IPv4 and IPv6 address spaces and so has over 340,000 unique locations in 120,000 cities worldwide. These metrics account for around 99.5% of all the IP addresses in use.

The data feed developers gather IP geolocation data from numerous sources aided by legal agreements with major ISPs. As such, users can expect updates on hundreds of thousands of records each week, giving them instant access to accurate data anytime.

The IP geolocation data feed is also easy to integrate into existing systems and platforms. It can also be enhanced further with the addition of various data feeds containing other near-real-time threat intelligence.

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Geofencing in a virtual desktop environment can provide companies with the reinforced security framework they need to prevent data loss. The technology is an excellent addition to risk reduction tools as it limits access to confidential data. If you want to get the most out of geofencing, use an accurate and comprehensive IP geolocation data feed to bring its capabilities to the next level.