As organizations transition between traditional on-site and hybrid work, the security risks are beginning to outweigh the advantages. It’s time for enterprises to implement strict bring your own mobile device security policies if they hope to keep up with evolving technology.
Table of contents
- Navigating the advantages and risks of BYOD in the workplace
- Enterprise BYOD security policies
- Is BYOD the right mobile device deployment solution for your organization?
Navigating the advantages and risks of BYOD in the workplace
Unsurprisingly, having a mobile device to use for work can influence everything from employee satisfaction and retention to revenue growth and profitability.
Our report, Maximizing mobile value, showed survey responses communicating the importance of smartphones for:
- employee productivity (82%)
- agility and the speed of decision-making (82%)
- customer service and satisfaction (76%)
- and innovation and collaboration (75%)
Now the question is, who should provide that mobile device; employers, or employees?
Each device deployment model comes with its share of advantages and risks, and bring your own device (BYOD) policies are no exception. While BYOD offers certain benefits, mostly stemming from a positive employee experience, it’s also scrutinized for its security risks.
The main risk of BYOD is the lack of control enterprises have over employee-owned devices. Unlike corporate-owned devices, where an IT team can easily monitor, manage, and safeguard them, BYOD leaves a portion of security in the employees’ hands. Users may download malicious apps that enable hackers to access corporate data or use public Wi-Fi, which heightens the risk of unauthorized access to company information.
Blending personal and business use also makes data management difficult. When personal data and applications coexist with business programs and data, the risk of data leakage is heightened. Further, without strict mobile device security policies, including mobile device management (MDM) policies, organizations don’t have control over operating system and application updates and security configurations, making them even more susceptible to cyber-attacks.
Despite the risks, BYOD programs are the way of the future. The flexibility of using personal devices also leads to improved job satisfaction and an enhanced hybrid work environment.
While the initial cost savings on hardware are substantial, if you’re looking to adopt a BYOD policy, know it’s essential to implement a robust, often costly, BYOD policy.
Defining an enterprise BYOD security policy
There is a wealth of technology to better secure employee-owned devices. However, a strong policy and employee buy-in are crucial to ensuring secure BYOD use in an organization. Employees must clearly understand what policies they need to take part in to maintain a secure environment.
Strengthening device security with BYOD policies: 5 elements to include
An enterprise BYOD security policy should include the following five elements.
1. Password protection
Password protection is vital to keep company data safe. Enforcing employees to use security systems such as two-factor authentication (2FA) and password managers strengthens the security of online accounts and helps to keep hackers out.
2. Regular operating system (OS) updates
Vendors should constantly provide security updates to their operating systems to stay ahead of security vulnerabilities. Outdated software is at a higher risk of getting hacked and keeping devices and applications up-to-date is a major part of overall digital security.
3. Remote tracking, locking and data-wiping procedures
More than 90% of security incidents involving lost or stolen devices result in an unauthorized data breach. Without implementation, employees don’t have features such as tracking, locking, and data wiping, but without it, their devices are more vulnerable to theft and data breaches. The steps for these procedures must be clearly defined in the policy to ensure the employee understands what is at stake if their device is compromised.
4. Application regulations
Application regulation ensures security, data protection, compliance, and performance of mobile devices. By creating a firm list of 'approved applications' the chances of malware attacks, data leakage, and non-compliance with industrial regulations are less likely. App regulation will also help to keep device performance in a good state and limit unauthorized access to the corporate network.
5. Termination regulations
Termination regulation policies ensure that, in case of termination, an employee understands that wiping sensitive company information from personal devices is required and access to corporate systems, apps, and data is revoked. A clear procedure for termination protects data, keeps it compliant with security, and prevents unauthorized access once an employee has left.
Enterprises implementing BYOD policies need to have adequate staff in their IT support departments to help employees get set up and provide ongoing support and monitoring.
Is BYOD the right mobile device deployment solution for your organization?
Our report, Maximizing mobile value, shows that up-front savings do not always maximize long-term value. Companies that deploy BYOD programs do save money on acquisition costs, but there are other costs, including policy implementation, IT team wages, and downtime due to breaches, to consider.
While having a mobile device for work has been shown to increase productivity and operational efficiency, enterprises should consider mobile device policies that provide phones to some or all employees.
Samsung Knox has helped countless enterprises implement corporately owned, personally enabled (COPE) programs with government-grade security to safeguard enterprise data from every angle with built-in EMM features.
Try the Samsung Knox - Enterprise Plan today.
