Increasing popularity of BYOD a security risk, study confirms

Handheld devices such as tablet computers and smartphones are revolutionising the way modern offices do business. However these gadgets can bring with them a variety of risks for anyone who fails to ensure the security of their company.

Network security company Fortinet has released the results of a recent survey into the popularity of these new forms of technology and the growing population of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) users.

The firm surveyed 3,872 university graduates from 15 different countries – all in their 20s and in full time employment – who owned their own smartphone, tablet or laptop computer.

It found that while 42 per cent of respondents understood the increased risk of data loss and exposure to security threats that comes with BYOD, 36 per cent admitted that they would still take the chance of bringing such devices into work even if corporate policy forbid them to do so.

Furthermore, 30 per cent of those surveyed admitted that they would be willing to use non-approved applications in the workplace.

‘The survey clearly reveals the great challenge faced by organisations to reconcile security and BYOD,’ said Fortinet’s international vice-president of international sales and support Patrice Perche.

“Within such an environment, organisations must regain control of their IT infrastructure by strongly securing both inbound and outbound access to the corporate network,”

If you are concerned about the risk that BYOD brings to your workplace, it may be worthwhile to consider a Due Diligence Assessment in order to fully assess any threats and compliance gaps in your system.

Due Diligence Assessments provide you with the means to evaluate whether your business is fully protected against the latest security risks, and equip you with the information necessary to ensure that you remain protected in the future.

Microsoft recently announced that it would be entering the tablet market with the release of the Surface, a move that is sure to bolster the popularity of BYOD even further.

Security audits for mobility and business intelligence operations

Australian firms are focusing more on mobility and business intelligence than ever before, according to a recent report.

The Chief Information Officer Agenda survey performed by Gartner as part of its Executive Programs 2012 initiative covered over 2,000 CIOs around the world – 132 of which were in Australia.

Researchers found that the main drive for these professionals for projects in 2012 was related to extracting value from mobile technologies and business intelligence (BI) operations.

While areas such as cloud services and virtualisation were still ranking well in terms of future planning, the survey found that the increase in adoption rates for smartphones and personal tablets made them less of an immediate priority.

Vice-president of Gartner Andy Rowsell-Jones explained that the new ranking was something of an anomaly for researchers to find.

He asserted: "BI has had a chequered history in Gartner's annual CIO survey. Is it new ideas, new tools, or the triumph of hope over experience that has propelled BI back into the limelight? We will find out over the course of the year."

However, the added amount of information collected and stored by businesses involved in data mining and mobile access also necessitates an increase in security audits and compliance certification, as the value generated by the collection of client details is also widely recognised by malicious online parties.