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Digital Transformation

Survey reveals companies still overlooking security with BYOD

Employees and businesses may not be taking security seriously enough with BYOD

As businesses have been adopting the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend, much emphasis has been placed on the need to adapt to its potential pitfalls by implementing the necessary security measures, but it seems companies and employees are still overlooking this aspect of the practice.

According to a survey conducted by mobility provider iPass, 48 per cent of mobile workers admit that they have bypassed IT security restrictions in order to access corporate data, while 19 per cent of firms do not require their workers to have protective software in place on their smartphones or tablets when accessing company information.

And with 25 per cent of businesses failing to demand that their staff have appropriate security features in place on their devices, it seems that managers and employees need to place a greater focus on protecting their systems.

"Mobile workers are using their devices to access corporate data. If IT departments put their heads in the sand, it’s only going to cause problems down the road," said John Gallagher, director of public and analysis relations at iPass.

Given that allowing staff to work remotely and use their own devices means they may be hit with extensive data roaming charges, Mr Gallagher also believes that businesses should help cover some of these costs as employees are ultimately working to boost their company’s productivity.

"People are using their own devices for work and the company should be paying some proportion of that. At the same time, IT needs to define the cost of access, and that needs to be communicated to all employees," he added.

But whether it’s by implementing greater security measures or helping staff to meet the cost of remote working, the need to apply appropriate methods of protection when backing up files on mobile devices should not be overlooked.