Intelligent CXO Issue 31 | Page 59

REGIONAL ROUND-UP

AFRICA APAC EUROPE MIDDLE EAST NORTH AMERICA

HALF OF EUROPEAN ORGANISATIONS STILL HAVE NO CORPORATE BYOD POLICY

Jamf , providers of a complete enterprise-level management and security solution for an Apple-first environment , has released new survey data that reveals 49 % of enterprises across Europe currently have no formal bring your own device ( BYOD ) policy in place , meaning they have no visibility into or control over if and how employees are connecting personal devices to corporate resources .

The research from Jamf , derived from surveying more than 100 organisations at its annual events in London , Germany , France and Amsterdam , reveals the cybersecurity risks facing organisations .
With no control over who can access what information , from where , when and , more importantly , how , establishing and enforcing a BYOD policy it is still a challenge for many organisations . This is leaving them open to risks ranging from data leakage or theft , out-of-date or vulnerable software , risky content , shadow IT and even physical loss of the device ; all of which put the company and its critical data at risk .
Additional findings from the European survey revealed :
• Forty-three percent of respondents felt they are up against more compliance-based security concerns this year versus last year
• Fifty-three percent of organisations are either already actively cutting IT / security costs or are currently looking into it
• More than two-thirds ( 67 %) of organisations are using between one and five vendors for management and security across all device types
• Fifty-seven percent of companies have separate teams that manage devices versus securing them
Exacerbating the challenge of managing devices is the fast-evolving threat landscape that organisations are facing , with 41 % of respondents concerned about the growing number of vulnerabilities in Apple operating systems and the volume of patches that must be applied across both devices and applications .
Michael Covington , VP of Portfolio Strategy at Jamf , said : “ Giving employees the power of choice to use their own devices for work can save the organisation money , but the real benefit is a seamless end-user experience that eliminates the need for multiple devices and introduces streamlined productivity workflows . It ’ s important to have a clearly documented BYOD policy in place to take advantage of these benefits , but the good news is that the technologies are now available to effectively manage risk in these environments .”
Advice for organisations looking to implement a BYOD policy includes :
• Getting employees enrolled in a BYOD or Mobile Device Management ( MDM ) programme is a process – think about how you manage this and communicate the benefits to employees . Some may have concerns around privacy so be clear in how data will be handled , how you will be installing applications and security protocols onto their devices or if there will be a figurative partition that separates work-related apps from the personal side of their device .
• Users can be part of the security solution – ensuring basic management controls and cyberhygiene , it is important that employees using their own devices understand the importance of actioning operating system and application updates when prompted . Lay out clearly in the BYOD policy what the baseline standards for any devices connected to the corporate network is – only if the device and user meet and maintain these standards , then they are allowed access to sensitive business data . x
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