Do You Agree with BYOD? 72 Percent of Businesses Do

Mobile devices have grown extraordinarily popular in the workplace. Organizations find them to be of considerable value for staying connected and getting work done while outside the office. This trend has presented a serious risk in the form of network and data security. How can businesses support mobile devices in the workplace, without compromising on the security of the device and the data it holds?

Data leakage is one of the major pain points of businesses that allow employee-owned mobile devices in the workplace. Every business has sensitive information that needs to be secured from malicious entities, no matter how benign it seems. As the business owner, it’s your responsibility to ensure that you have a policy put into place to protect your data. In the case of mobile devices, you need a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy that dictates how an employee uses their mobile devices for work purposes.

A recent study by Bitglass shows that 72 percent of various organizations, including financial, technology, healthcare, government, and education, feel that BYOD should be supported for at least some of their employees. As for mobile device management, which is an organization’s control over devices used by employees, only 14 percent of organizations used solutions that protect data with device encryption. This is a significant difference that reveals a tricky situation: company’s like the idea of BYOD, but don’t (or aren’t able to) implement a mobile device management solution.

Naturally, you can’t let your business be the next to lose information due to mobile security threats. Implementing a mobile device management solution from XFER can help your business retain complete control over the data that’s stored on your employees’ mobile devices. You can restrict access to data based on work role, whitelist and blacklist app data, and even remotely wipe devices:

• Whitelisting and blacklisting apps: Some applications will request access to information stored on a mobile device, but some won’t have any real reason to have access. For example, a flashlight app has no business accessing your phone’s contacts or geographical location. By whitelisting and blacklisting apps, you can minimize your data’s exposure to threats.
• Role-based user access: One of the easiest ways to minimize danger to your organization’s data is to limit who has access to it. By integrating role-based user access, you can allow your team to access data that they need to do their jobs properly, and keep them from accessing that which they don’t.
• Remote wiping: Sometimes the best way to prevent a data breach is by remotely wiping data from a lost or stolen device. You shouldn’t rely on a lost device showing back up, especially if it were left in a public place like a bus or subway station. You should always be prepared for a worst-case scenario like this.

For more information about BYOD and mobile device management solutions, reach out to XFER at 734-927-6666 / 800-GET-XFER.