TECH TRENDS
Is your endpoint security strategy up to par ?
The sheer variety of employee-owned endpoints can cause a headache for IT teams . These devices do not always have the controls in place that endpoints within the office might have . Manuel Sanchez , Information Security and Compliance Specialist , iManage , explains the risk of BYOD and how companies can mitigate endpoint risk .
What shape will work take : remote vs return to office ? The answer for the time being seems to be ‘ both ’ – and as long as a hybrid model of some form exists , organisations will need to be extra vigilant around the endpoints that employees are using to access and interact with the organisation ’ s resources at home and on the go .
These devices – which range from laptops and tablets to home printers – are juicy targets for bad actors looking to exploit these devices and gain access to enterprise systems and data , because they do not always have the controls in place that endpoints within the office might have .
How did we arrive at a landscape saturated with employee-owned endpoints , and what ’ s the best approach for enterprises looking to minimise potential risk surrounding these devices ?
BYOD gets a boost
Even before the pandemic , there were BYOD ( bring your own device ) policies that allowed employees to use their personal devices for work – maybe their beloved MacBook laptop or a smartphone that they were already using every day in their personal life .
Since the pandemic , that approach has expanded , with many companies actually giving employees a cash allowance to purchase devices – not just smartphones or laptops , but other endpoint devices like printers .
This approach was a matter of necessity during pandemic lockdowns , when it was basically impossible for employees to avail themselves of corporate resources like printing . Instead , employees would buy a printer from an online retailer , so that they could print out hard copies of documents on their own .
Essentially , employees were free to create their own ‘ home office ’, along with the endpoints it encompassed .
An explosion of endpoints
The problem with this level of freedom is that IT is no longer in control of the devices their
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