We’ve all been there at one time or another. Someone in the office opens up an email they’re not supposed to, and next thing you know, the entire network is exposed. Screens freeze, everyone stops what they’re doing and yells for “Jeff” in IT to come to the rescue. Although this type of threat is still a very real possibility, there’s an entirely new wave of security risks that business owners need to pay attention to.
Whether you’re a large enterprise business or a small business owner, it’s likely that most, if not all of your employees are using a mobile device to communicate. Although mobile communication is a blessing in most cases, as a business owner, it also opens your business to a variety of threats that can have an incredibly negative impact.
BYOD
A more recent trend that has business owners troubled is their employees using personal devices for work, whether it be a smart phone or a tablet. “Bring Your Own Device”, or BYOD for short, is the term used to describe this modern business conundrum. As more of this behavior has occurred, companies are forced to scramble to respond to the unintended risks, implementing policies, privacy protocols and usage regulations in order to combat the threat.
Data Risks Associated With BYOD
Lost or Stolen Devices: With the most common threat associated with BYOD occurs when an employee loses their phone. An astounding 4.3% of company-issued smartphones are lost or stolen every year! The cost of replacing the device is one thing. But when you compound that with the cost associated with a data breach, the cost could be far greater.
Malware: With increasingly, more and more malware is being created for the sole purpose of infiltrating mobile devices. The most susceptible areas are found in mobile applications or downloads. Additionally, opening emails from unknown parties is a surefire way to increase the risk of malware compromising the device.
Links to Cloud-Based Storage: With BYOD, using cloud-based storage to save sensitive company data or documents is not a great idea. Employers must evaluate whether the sites provide sufficient security if the employee plans to store company information using the apps.
What If My Workforce Uses Company Phones or Tablets?
You may be thinking that your business is safe from outside threats because you don’t allow employees to use their personal phones for work purposes. Wrong. Unfortunately, just because your workforce is using company devices connected to your network, data breaches can still occur. Thankfully, there are mobile security solutions that can mitigate the risks of managing your mobile device deployment.
Mobility Help Desk has partnered with AirWatch by VMware to provide fully-managed security solutions to support deployments of mobile devices at any scale! With this solution, you have the ability to enforce policies, set restrictions, make devices highly secure and selectively wipe devices that are lost or stolen.
Takeaways
The silver lining in all of this is that measures can be taken to secure your network from outside threats, whether you allow your employees personal use of mobile devices for work or not.
As is the case with most policies, the best ones are the ones that are enforced! It doesn’t do you or your company any good to go through the process of creating a mobile device security policy if you don’t follow through on the backend. Making sure that all employees understand the policy, and the consequences for non-compliance are some very basic ways to ensure that your network stays safe.
If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of working with a company that knows this better than anyone else, please feel free to reach out to us at Mobility Help Desk, to learn more about their offerings along with AT&T’s powerful security programs.
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