Apr 02, 2014

The adoption of bring-your-own-device initiatives have changed business processes and introduced new potential security issues that could compromise sensitive data. While mobile file sharing is a substantial asset, organizations also must consider how to protect their information from malware and other threats the hardware may bring. Although IT staff and primary stakeholders have made protection a top priority, other users are not observing the same practices. Safety measures have become essential for mitigating mobile dangers, but many employees still don’t follow recommended procedures.

In a time when vulnerabilities and breaches are becoming considerably more costly, it’s not feasible for companies to ignore data security needs. According to IDC Indonesia, more companies are under-valuing their IT protection, but they are becoming unwilling to continue using uncontrolled BYOD practices. While many areas are aware of the potential risks that BYOD brings, if the organization has lower spending allotments, it will impede them from protecting their assets as well as other firms.

Many places are visibly struggling to establish safety measures, as seen from years of bad press and recurring data breaches. As the economy for this area grows, businesses still struggle to leverage BYOD in its true value and maximize benefits. Nevertheless, many organizations are integrating mobile elements like email to employee hardware to enable on-the-go business and begin to boost overall productivity.

“While in general all this sounds positively fantastic for a growing Indonesian economy — especially for urbanites working in large cities — that’s where enterprises fail in actually digging deeper into the essence of what BYOD is all about — its advantages, its disadvantages and its pitfalls,” according to the source.

Businesses grappling with BYOD
While there are regions that have unique challenges with BYOD processes, the need for security is an issue that has hampered many organizations. A recent survey by Information Technology Intelligence Consulting revealed that 50 percent of participants may have had a breach on mobile devices within the past year without their knowledge. To make matters worse, 56 percent are not improving their protection measures even as high-profile attacks are becoming more prevalent, Credit Union Times reported. The security threats dealt with by Target and other organizations serve as a reminder that any organization can be a victim to malware and other risks, especially if steps aren’t taken to deter the risks. To mitigate this, businesses must review their processes and ensure that they are implementing mobile access control to minimize downtime and better protect company assets from being compromised.

“Individually and collectively, the inability of a significant segment of corporations to track and secure both company and employee-owned BYOD devices undermines IT and security administrators’ ability to secure the environment,” the report said. “It also creates a larger attack vector for hackers. And it makes servers and mission critical applications more vulnerable to infection by rogue code, malware or sensitive data that was hijacked when a BYOD device’s security was compromised.”