Productivity, innovation, and efficiency are mantras of today’s modern organization. In the current economic environment, more and more organizations are practicing bring your own device (BYOD) in the workplace to drive productivity and connectivity among workers. However, how much does an organization really know about the risk landscape of the bring your own device workplace practice? Safety BYOD practices in the workplace starts with a good understanding of the challenges of BYOD and mobile malware among personal devices used in the workplace. Determining the best way to reduce the security vulnerabilities of your company’s BYOD deployment is a great way to stay proactive.

What are the Issues of BYOD in the workplace?

BYOD deployment opens up your organization’s risk to mobile device security, data breach issues, and social engineering.

• Mobile device security accounts for 65 percent of security issues related to BYOD deployment. Your organization’s security becomes linked to the security of employees’ personal devices used for work. Gone are the days when devices used in the organization had limited functionality and standardized operating systems. Today’s mobile devices run on different types of operating systems and are constantly connected to the world wide web. This not only makes them more challenging to implement security policies, it also makes them more vulnerable to Internet-based threats.
• Data Leakage and Social Engineering are two of the most common causes of data loss among organizations. One out of every four organizations are going to experience data leakage in 2019 and 2020 among companies without a BYOD policy. The cause of most data leakages and data breaches include storing and transferring information on unsecure apps, websites, and jailbreaking personal devices.

How you secure your BYOD deployment?

Securing your organization from the security threats associated with BYOD practices, managers should take a proactive approach to data and network security.

• Secure your organization’s network. Devices are only as secure as their WiFi and network security. Make sure that your organization has the latest network security to protect users from experiencing any man-in-the-middle network attacks.
• Implement a BYOD security policy. This policy should include a standardized device and app vetting policy, clear phishing security policy, and security update policy. Software updates for mobile devices allow your employees to make sure all their devices used at work have up-to-date security.
• Make sure data in all lost or stolen devices are erased. Most stolen and lost devices are not returned because of their hardware value. Employees should be made aware of the importance of utilizing the security features of the mobile devices they use at work.
• Keep everything up-to-date. Like security updates and network security, effective security policy would include updating security policies periodically, updating the list of devices and operating system updates that may be used in the workplace, and updating antivirus software and network security software regularly.

Making data and network security a priority in the organization’s BYOD deployment necessitates a combination of security policies and effective cyber security services.