The Security and Compliance Considerations with Rugged Tablets

The pressure on organisations to do more, solve more, and deliver high-standard capabilities is constantly growing. Since staying ahead of the race is the only way to drive growth and revenue, modern technology plays a key role in helping workers more easily accomplish their day-to-day tasks and organisations in advancing their goals. In the industrial setup, rugged tablets act as the driving force for exceptional operational efficiency and performance.

Read: Why Manufacturing Companies are Rapidly Replacing Handheld Devices with Rugged Devices

Offering the toughness required in today’s hot, dirty, and wet rugged environments, these tablets help in keeping businesses in the game by empowering teams to accomplish more tasks and adapt to ever-changing organisational needs and the business landscape.

Although rugged tablets enable seamless communication on the go, allowing employees to talk and type from anywhere, at any time, they also need to fulfil certain security and compliance requirements, not just to avoid the repercussions of non-compliance but also to sustain high levels of productivity and efficiency.

Here’s looking at the top security and compliance considerations with rugged tablets:

Biometric systems: One of the most important security features that rugged tablets have to offer are related to biometrics. Integrated facial recognition, iris, and fingerprint scanners that can help identify and authenticate users can enable high accuracy biometric matching anytime and anywhere – paving the way for extraordinary value in the industrial landscape.
Access control: Since a single industrial tablet may be used by multiple people across different roles and departments, it is important the tablet offers different levels of access privileges. Strong access control mechanisms can ensure only authorised and approved individuals can access the tablet. At the same time, multi-factor authentication capabilities can add an extra layer of security, protecting information stored in rugged tablets from possible attacks while constantly keeping an eye on their access.
Lock slots: Given the amount of sensitive business and personnel data rugged tablets store, guarding against data or device theft is the first line of defence. Although rugged tablets enable high levels of workplace flexibility, this inherent portability also makes them extremely vulnerable to attack. To protect rugged tablets and the sensitive information they contain, lock slots are a great option to reduce the risk of data theft or malicious access.
CAC readers: Rugged tablets with built-in CAC readers are a great tool that can be used for personnel identification as well as for enabling physical access to buildings and controlled spaces. Tablets with integrated readers can not only ensure security; they can also help admins get full control on whom to allow or deny access to. These readers can provide the ultimate authentication mechanisms for data protection – especially in industries with extreme security requirements such as military, government, and law enforcement.
Software updates: With technology trends changing every day, rugged tablets also need to offer continuous software and OS updates, so all necessary security patches are applied in time. Rugged tablets with a robust mobile security policy can not only help in extending the security features of the tablet and keeping them up to date, but they also help extend overall life – ensuring the tablet always works to its full potential. Tablets with the right security policy can minimise downtime, allow admins to accurately respond to security incidents, and allow the organisation to operate and innovate – without the risk of breaches.
TPM processors: Rugged tablets with TPM processors are also extremely sought-after in the industrial setup. They help in securing the tablet hardware via integrated cryptographic keys and provide the required security-related functions. By offering multiple physical security mechanisms, they help make rugged tablets tamper-resistant, reducing the chances of hackers or malicious software changing the underlying security functions of the tablet.
Industry-specific compliance: The adoption of rugged tablets in highly regulated industries often hits a roadblock because they pose several regulatory compliance challenges when it comes to accessing sensitive data. Since different sectors have different compliance requirements, when you’re looking out for a rugged tablet for your specific business, it is important to check for industry-specific compliance. For instance, rugged tablets in the healthcare setup must comply with stringent IEC, HIPAA, and FDA regulations whereas those in the oil and gas and mining industries must be intrinsically safe and fulfil UL and ATEX requirements.
Built-in intelligence: Rugged tablets also need to offer built-in intelligence that provides the required insight into security. By offering real-time updates about the health and security of the tablet, such intelligent data-driven analytics can help organisations fortify device security while also maximising productivity and ROI. Timely insight can also help replace reactive management with proactive while helping optimise device availability and reliability.

The variety of rugged tablets available in the market today are many, offering a plethora of modern features and capabilities. But if you want to set a high standard, you need to invest in a tablet that is not only rugged – but also secure by design. Tablets with modern security characteristics like biometric systems, access control mechanisms, card slots, CAC readers, TPM processors, and industry-specific compliance can help you rise above the rest and drive remarkable business results.

When searching for a top-notch rugged tablet for your business, make sure to adopt a rugged tablet that balances operational objectives with security requirements, so you can meet the current and future security and compliance needs – based on the industry you operate in.