BYOD or Bring Your Own Device, also known as, BYOP, BYOT, and BYOPC is the latest trend in companies today. BYOD allows employees to use their personal phones, tablets and even laptops to complete work. According to Comodo Security Solutions, 85% of organizations worldwide have adopted BYOD in one form or another. But how safe is BYOD for your company’s security?
While BYOD is great in its own way, such as, boosting productivity in employees by allowing them to work anywhere, it’s also the downfall. Allowing employees to work anywhere, and from any device, gives them access to data and files essential for the success of any company; especially private customer information. Imagine if this device gets stolen, whether that be from a home, car or right out of your hands, those laptops, phones, and tablets could have names, numbers, and address of customers and loved ones let alone other private information about your company. Sure, most of that information isn’t lost, just do a backup if capable, but the person who currently has the device has all that information and who knows if or what they are going to do with it.
Your next thoughts might be ‘I have responsible employees,’ ‘That might never happen to me,’ or even ‘How often does that happen?’ Statista, an online statistics portal, states that in 2017 Nevada had over 45,000 larceny thefts; that’s 124 thefts a day! Considering how many people live in Nevada, and if your employee is “responsible,” chances are those devices might not get stolen, but everyone loves free WiFi, even responsible employees. When working on a device you are comfortable with, logging into the free WiFi at your favorite coffee shop is a natural thing, but Malware can attack and harm your devices by using local WiFi. It can steal, encrypt or delete data from your device that is not properly protected. A way to prevents attacks that involve company files is to ensure that all employees use devices that have specific software that protects from malware and anything else from the internet that can harm your computer or other devices.
Bring your own device can be helpful to not just the employers, but the employees; Working where you want, when you want, from what device you want- the best scenario possible. The best thing to do is to make sure that everyone who is using a BYOD is educated on the security of their devices. If you choose to continue or start BYOD within your company, set up a BYOD policy where you and employees understand the kinds of devices that need to be used and are willing to support. This also includes making sure everyone knows the functions that can be accessed for each person and which applications are the best to use for top security. Never forget, strong passwords that don’t include the owners name or anything that can be easily found online are going to help you and your company stay safe in the BYOD epidemic.
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