Cybersecurity company Lookout Inc. today announced new features for its Mobile Endpoint Security solution that provide comprehensive protection against two fast-growing advanced social engineering tactics: SMS text phishing, or smishing, and executive impersonation fraud texts.

The enhancements seek to strengthen mobile security by proactively identifying and blocking these sophisticated attacks before they can compromise sensitive data.

Lookout argues that mobile devices, now central to enterprise productivity, have become prime targets for social engineering attacks like smishing and executive impersonation. A recent Lookout Threat Landscape Report found that there was a 70% year-over-year increase in mobile phishing attempts, attacks that trick employees into sharing sensitive data, often compromising entire organizations with just a single tap.

Leveraging Lookout’s AI-driven threat intelligence and vast mobile security dataset, the updated Mobile Endpoint Security solution provides organizations with an additional layer of defense by flagging suspicious messages and preventing employees from falling victim to smishing or executive impersonation scams. The features, available on both iOS and Android devices, help mitigate the growing threat of social engineering attacks that increasingly target mobile devices in the enterprise environment.

The new features in Lookout’s Mobile Endpoint Security proactively flag suspicious messages before employees engage with them to reduce the risk of a successful attack. Executive Impersonation Protection specifically targets phishing texts from attackers posing as senior executives to block unknown numbers that don’t match those of the organization’s executives.

Another feature, Advanced Smishing Protection, is the first mobile threat defense solution to instantly alert users when a malicious link is received, Lookout claims. The service also blocks harmful URLs when clicked in any app, with the result being a comprehensive defense against today’s sophisticated phishing threats.

Administrators also benefit from real-time visibility and reporting, which allows them to monitor coordinated smishing and executive impersonation attacks as they happen. The reporting capabilities help security teams mitigate potential damage and protect sensitive data more effectively.

“In recent conversations with customers and industry analysts, we’ve been told that smishing and executive impersonation are two of the most frustrating security challenges to deal with,” said Firas Azmeh, president of Mobile Endpoint Security at Lookout. “Knowing your organization is under attack from a targeted threat is critical for today’s security teams, so by combining all three of these solutions into one release, we’re helping our customers know as soon as their employees are being targeted en masse so they can prevent phishing incidents, mitigate damage and protect organizational data.”

Photo: Lookout