A Guide To BYOD Security In The Workplace

A Guide To BYOD Security In The Workplace

3 min read

If your business allows workers to bring their personal computing devices to work – whether they be smartphones, ipads, or laptops – you need to have a BYOD security strategy for these devices. Prior to the introduction of personal devices, workers could only use company-issued gadgets at work. Almost every employee now arrives to work with their own internet-connected gadget because of the proliferation of smartphones and ipads in the customer market today. This implies that an employee has a greater chance of posing a security risk to your business.

So, in this blog, we’ll discuss the challenges businesses face with BYOD devices and how a strong security policy can eliminate almost all threats.

Challenges of BYOD Solutions

The security of bringing your own device (BYOD) devices may be a problem for both large corporations and small businesses. Due to the reality that businesses must exercise some kind of control over non-company-owned mobile devices like mobiles, tablets, and laptops in order to be successful, this is the case. Companies and workers are progressively adopting and accepting BYOD security policies as the practice has become more widespread and security concerns are more understood.

BYOD is more common than it was even a few years back in the workplace. According to Tech Pro Research’s November 2014 study, 74% of companies currently allow workers to bring their personal devices in the workplace or intend to do so in the future. To access mobile business apps, 87% of businesses relied on workers in 2016, while 45% of U.S. employees were mandated to use their personal cell phones for professional reasons.

Corporations that utilize Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) save money on hardware and software, but BYOD also imposes extra duties on IT teams, which should maintain the devices and verify that the practice doesn’t really expose the company’s network and data to needless risks. Surprisingly, security concerns were mentioned as the top reason for not using BYOD by the 26% of survey respondents who did not intend to do so.

Need For BYOD Security

BYOD is predicted to increase from $94 billion in 2014 to over $350 billion in 2022, according to recent research. The worldwide BYOD industry is projected to rise significantly between 2020 and 2026. Employees’ increasing willingness to conduct work-related activities like sending emails even while they are away from the office is fueling this development.

Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused considerable disruption across the globe, accelerating the work-from-home culture and necessitating the use of personal devices by many workers to access work-related apps. In spite of the fact that 95% of companies allow employee-owned devices to be used in the office, 2/3 of workers still bring their own devices to work. This implies that some workers are accessing corporate networks and apps on their personal devices, despite the point that doing so is opposing the rules.

Based on these results, workers are likely to utilize personal mobile devices to perform business tasks, even if the firm has rules or previous information about using personal devices. As a result of disregarding the probable usage of personal devices, businesses may be neglecting an important security issue.

To make BYOD a safer practice, employers may either embrace it by implementing BYOD regulations and security measures or they can forbid it completely and find a means to enforce it. Most businesses will benefit from adopting the BYOD trend and applying security measures that minimize the dangers it poses, such as improved employee productivity and higher employee satisfaction due to a better work-life balance.

Creating A BYOD Security Policy

Setting a BYOD security strategy is an important first step in ensuring business security when workers bring their own devices to work. An efficient Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy should have the following elements:

  • To what extent are workers allowed to use personal devices to access company apps and assets?
  • Device security measures that must be met at a minimum
  • SSL certificates for device authentication, for example, are components supplied by the company.
  • For lost or stolen devices, the company may have the authority to remotely wipe them.

For example, Jonathan Hassell writes in an article for CIO that defining the permitted device types and implementing a strict security policy for all devices are important components of successful BYOD policies. Because these features take extra steps and bother users, customers may choose not to employ native security measures such as locking device displays or requiring passwords. When clear business rules are in place, employees are more likely to make use of these basic features, and even the most basic security precautions may have a significant impact.

BYOD policies should also clearly define the services available for BYOD devices, such as IT support for employees trying to connect to the company network, application support for

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