Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies have become less of a trend and more of a requirement. By 2018, 78.48% of organizations in the US had instituted a BYOD policy.
This kind of policy allows you to bring your own mobile device to work, for use with company systems, software, networks and information. These devices can include phones, tablets, laptops, and wearables. Gone are the days of managing both your personal and work cell phones.
Unfortunately, most companies are blinded by the benefits. They don’t take into consideration how much more vulnerable their data becomes when implementing these policies. “In a recent study from Bitglass, 30 percent of the 400 IT experts surveyed were hesitant to adopt BYOD due to security concerns such as data leakage, shadow IT and unauthorized data access.”
Although there are undeniable positives, no organization wants a data breach and it’s imperative to take the necessary precautions. That way everyone wins.
Benefits
The previously mentioned Bitglass study also showed that 85 percent of companies allow not only employees, but contractors, customers and suppliers to access enterprise data from their personal devices as well. This means that leadership teams and executives favor this kind of policy.
In this day and age, devices have become extremely personal. Like most people, you probably keep yours close to yourself and store important and private information on it. The ability to use your own device for business purposes allows you to work more comfortably and confidently. Additionally, it eliminates the hassle and frustration of learning a new operating system just for business use.
A lot of business is done on-the-go and using your own mobile device tends to make that easier. When you’re machine is hardwired in your office, the ability to work while you travel can be limiting.
Along with that, using personal, portable devices for work tasks saves employees 58 minutes per day while increasing productivity by 34%. Finally, one of the benefits companies like the most is that it saves money on. hardware because everyone provides their own.
Downfalls and Solutions
Now that you’ve gotten excited about how much money you’re saving on hardware, take a moment to consider how many team members now have access to company data on their mobile devices. That’s every team member multiplied by the number of devices they have causing new vulnerabilities.
A data breach could cost you every dollar you saved on hardware and then some. Not only is it important to have a solution in place, but it’s necessary to keep your team updated on best practices as well. Are their systems up to date and passwords strong enough? Securing all these new devices is a necessity and there are a few ways to do that.
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
First, one BYOD solution you can implement to help safeguard your company’s corporate network is Mobile Device Management (MDM). With MDM solutions you have the ability to proactively secure mobile devices. When you implement a BYOD policy like this you’re taking a security measure that not only provides your organization with mobile security, but ultimately, protects the personal data of your employees and clients as well.
The Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report confirmed that 80% of hacking-related breaches continue to come from stolen or weak credentials such as passwords.
With Mobile Device Management software you can specify passwords policies, enforce encryption settings, selectively wipe corporate data, and streamline the device setup. You’ll never have to worry if one of team member loses their laptop. Mobile application management can be implemented to control access to company data based on what apps are and aren’t on your phone, and what apps you want to permit your employees to use.
The Cloud
Another helpful solution that allows you to choose both convenience and security is The Cloud. With cloud-based platforms like Office 365 you’ll never have to worry about your team unsafely accessing documents outside the office again. They’ll all be safe in the cloud. Easy access and real time co-authoring on documents allows your organization to reap the productivity benefits of BYOD without security concerns.
There are so many elements to worry about when it comes to new devices making your environment more vulnerable. A Managed Service Provider like The TNS Group will put the right solutions in place to ensure your devices and data stay protected.
Categories: Managed Service Provider, MSP Blogs
