BYOD becomes a reality as managers give the thumbs-up

More than three-quarters of employees are permitted to make use of their personal devices for work, proving that bring your personal device (BYOD) has truly arrived.

The research by Trend Micro found that 78 per cent of employees were permitted to bring their very own devices to work, yet nearly all companies that do permit BYOD require security software be installed on personal devices.

Another research paper by mobile device management vendor Zenprise found that enterprises are embracing the BYOD trend, with North America the lead adopter of its cloud-based solution.

Ahmed Datoo, chief marketing officer of Zenprise, said: “This report finds two overarching concerns: security and a possible lack of productivity. Because the BYOD trend continues to achieve momentum, we think that advances in mobile device management will offset these concerns and corporations will start viewing mobile devices as increasingly critical tools for business success.”

Zenprise found that basic access and security policies were probably the most commonly deployed functions in mobile device management, with passcode policies and VPN policies each deployed for 29 per cent of enrollments.

The Trend Micro survey found that BYOD is seen as an employee retention and recruitment tool by 54 per cent of CEOs and 45 per cent of IT executives. The identical proportion also felt that a BYOD policy enhances innovation, creativity and productivity.

Trend Micro said security breaches were experienced by nearly half all companies that permit BYOD, and immediate changes to security protocols typically followed, with data-access right restrictions (45 per cent) and security software installation (42 per cent) being the foremost frequent responses. Few repealed BYOD altogether following a breach.

Meanwhile, research by Websense found that 51 per cent of organisations lose data through mobile devices, and while 77 per cent of respondents agreed that the usage of mobile devices inside the workplace is crucial to achieving business objectives, 76 per cent also believed that these devices put their organisations in danger.

In the identical survey, 59 per cent of respondents said employees circumvent or disengage security measures, resembling passwords and key locks, on corporate and private mobile devices. Spencer Parker, group product manager at Websense, told SC Magazine that one of the vital main concerns is controlling data once it truly is outside the organisation.

He said: “With BYOD and smartphones, businesses ought to support the technology and policies which were rolled out as they would like to empower users. Security is all about data in place of devices, as a locked-down attitude is just not ok.”

Tom Clare, senior director of product marketing management at Websense, said: “Tablets and iOS devices are replacing corporate laptops as employees bring their very own devices to work and access corporate information. These devices open the door to unprecedented lack of sensitive data. IT must be desirous about the information that mobile devices access and never the device itself.

“This survey shows that organisations want a safe strategy to manage their mobile devices. Websense saw that need and developed our TRITON Mobile Security solution. We take mobile security to the subsequent level by combining device management with real-time protection from data loss, dynamic web threats, mobile malware, and malicious mobile apps.”

Websense polled greater than 4,600 IT security practitioners globally; the fad Micro survey was of IT executives and CEOs located within the US, UK and Germany.