A survey conducted by Gartner in the fourth quarter of 2013 provides important information about the BYOD (Bring-your-own-device) trend and how it affects the security of organizations.
The “Bring Your Own Device” trend has begun to gain widespread acceptance, as more and more organizations allow employees to use their personal mobile devices for business purposes, so that they can access company data from anywhere, at any time, and with any device.
The report, however, shows that American users do not seem particularly concerned about the security risks associated with BYOD.
Of the 1,000 total respondents, a quarter admitted to having encountered security issues while using their personal devices in 2013. However, only 27% of employees reported the incident to their employer.
Nearly half of respondents admitted to using personal devices for work purposes for at least an hour each day. Only 20% of those who use their personal phones, laptops and tablets to access corporate data protect their devices with their organization’s firewall.
“Regardless of the activity and its duration, any work on a private device inherently carries the threat of a security breach. This is causing IT organizations to seek the right solutions to balance protection, management and user flexibility,” said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner.
“Businesses will need help from telecommunications service providers to assess and implement the necessary security policies and procedures, for ongoing employee training, but also for the procurement and installation of solutions for security, encryption and management of mobile devices.”
