What Risk Does 'BYOD' Pose To Your Business? Survey Says

The growing popularity of the "BYOD" (bring your own device) approach to IT, in which employees can use their personal mobile devices for work tasks, is creating some serious challenges for business, according to the latest CDW IT Monitor. While 76 percent of companies in the survey allow personal device use, they are having trouble getting their employees to follow company policies, and are struggling with insufficient budgets and staff to handle the change.

What's most worrisome, 33 percent of companies that allow BYOD are "not confident" or only "somewhat confident" that their policies and security measures are actually managing risks. And 19 percent outright admit they aren't effectively managing the risks that come with personal mobile devices usage.

Why it matters to your business: Trying to keep employees from using their personal devices for work may seem like fighting a losing battle -- and giving in might seem like a cost-saving solution. But in reality, BYOD can cost you your business if sensitive company or customer data is leaked or your network is breached. On the other hand, it's increasingly important to employees (especially Gen Y ones) to be able to use their own mobile devices. To help bridge the divide, create a comprehensive BYOD policy, enforce it and set aside some extra time and budget dollars to make sure you can keep everyone's devices secure.

Comments

[telemedik8]

12:01 PM on 02/23/2012

Mobile device usage is like ants marching. You can't stop it. So true. This is how I explain the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) issue to upper management.

This is a big issue in the healthcare industry, where HIPAA and patient data confidentiality can lead to major law suits for loss or unsecured use of data by mobile devices.

The problem is that the data is on the BYOD device, and if it is lost or stolen, then the data can be accessed.

The problem is that the large centralized BYOD systems are expensive and very restricting for the users.

Like ants, we can't stop doctors and nurse from emailing or texting confidential patient data from their smart phones and iPads.

Instead, we try to provide them with tools to help them keep the data secure.

Example, for text messaging we got all the doctors to use Tigertext, which is HIPAA compliant since it is a secure closed network that works on most smartphones, and deletes the text message after a period of time. At $10 a user it is very cost effective and saving the hospital from millions in law suits.

I think BYOD policy and technologies are going to be the major focus of IT departments for sometime to come, and cost effective and easy to use and implement solutions that work on personal devices will be key to solving the security issues related to BYOD.

www.byod.us
www.tigertext.com

[Michael Gorecki]

12:47 PM on 02/21/2012

Locking USB Keys, Protecting access to Company Email systems where the device is not centraly controlled (Outlook/Thunderbird), Dropbox/Google Docs access... it is a real headache for Corprate Security.

If it was all Web-based and Properly secure, that would be one thing. But companies tend to take the Cheapest path, not necessarily the path that Makes Most Sense.

[hispi]

06:49 PM on 02/20/2012

BYO(Bring Your Own) - "네가 먹을 음식이나 술은 네가 가져와"
BYOD - "네가 사용할 (모바일)디바이스는 네가 가져와"

[ShamanX]

12:59 PM on 02/19/2012

Good news nobodies! We're finding yet a new way to shackle your freedom! If you don't like it... there's the door! But in an engineered labor-unfriendly economy like this... who will leave!

[CSNC]

10:46 PM on 02/18/2012

"Do Employees' Personal Devices Threaten Your Security?"

Not really... what it threaten is your control over your slaves... sorry, employees.

H

[King7David]

07:10 AM on 02/18/2012

I guess as more and more small businesses emerge, we'll being this as a major issue / concern.