When it comes to business, buzzwords abound. From irritating mentions of ‘synergising’, ‘drilling down’, and ‘giving 110%’ the buzzword on everyone’s lips these days is BYOD. To those not familiar with irksome business lingo, BYOD refers to Bring Your Own Device…..to work, that is.
According to a recent study by mobile solutions company Jumio Inc, 72% of smartphone users in the US are never more than 1.5 metres from their devices, with 12% even taking them in the shower, and 9% taking them to bed.
Given the proliferation of smartphones and mobile devices over here, Australia is surely not far behind. The latest Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index survey showed 76% of Aussies own a smartphone, while a UK survey by Ofcom found that Australia has the highest take-up of tablets per capita out of 16 countries surveyed (24%).
Personal Life vs. Business Life
It’s no wonder this slightly worrying preoccupation with mobile technology has ended up spilling over from personal life into business life. According to a recent study by online storage vendor Acronis, two thirds of organisations in Australia allow staff to bring their own devices into the workplace.
And according to a ZDNet survey of IT staff within Australian organisations, 89% of businesses permit members of their senior leadership team to access corporate data from their own mobile devices. This percentage drops to 77% for middle management, and 64% for all other staff.
Over in the US, analysis of recent Cisco, CTIA, and Checkpoint Software research showed that 90% of employees used their personal smartphones for work in the past year, but only 51% of companies were securing those devices.
That research also revealed that 66% of workers in the US feared the loss of personal information from their personal devices, 17% didn’t tell their employers about the business use of personal devices, and 11% wouldn’t immediately tell an employer if a personal device was compromised.
A Question of Security
While BYOD certainly has its benefits – greater flexibility for employees, potential for higher productivity, and potentially lower costs for employers – it also has its drawbacks. Additional access to company and client data via a range of often unsecured devices could lead to security breaches.
If the device is stolen or infected with malware, sensitive data could be at risk. While some organisations have effective BYOD policies in place, many do not. Company or client information could be stolen, or if employees leave the organisation, they could take with them a host of valuable data.
“Generally, employees are expecting to be able to bring their own devices and be able to connect them to the network,” Simon Howe, Asia-Pacific sales director of mobility solutions at Acronis said. “But one of the key findings from the research is that most organisations don’t have any kind of policy in place around BYOD.”
“These smartphones and tablets have access to corporate data, and they need to be secured. What we’re seeing is that while organisations have quickly understood the productivity benefits of BYOD, they haven’t completely understood the risks and the challenges.”
BYOD is expected to become even more ubiquitous in the coming years. Market research firm Gartner predicts that by 2017, half of all companies around the world will require staff to bring their own devices to work. However, if effective BYOD policies are not in place by then, organisations – and their customers – could end up in a whole world of trouble.
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