BYOD On Rise, But Only 11% Cos Use MDM

Due to their expanded functionality, smartphones have become far more than a simple means of communication. Today they are fully-featured work tools, often used by employees to access corporate information. This, of course, presents risks – yet 33 percent of companies allow their staff unrestricted access to corporate resources from their smartphones. This alarming statistic was revealed by a survey conducted by B2B International in July 2012.

38 percent of companies apply some kind of restriction on smartphone use: these include bans on access to certain network resources. A further 19 percent have a complete ban on the use of mobile devices for work activities. But only 11 percent of companies currently use Mobile Device Management (MDM) software to ensure compliance with corporate security policies.

Another trend on the rise among organisations is that of “Bring Your Own Device” which could be a PC, smartphone or tablet. Dangerously, the survey shows many companies place no restrictions on these even though 34 percent of those surveyed think that the use of personal devices presents a threat for business, and another 55 percent frequently think about how to reduce the risk. This increased focus on mobile devices from IT specialists is probably explained by the fact that 23 percent said they had faced the loss of business data due to the loss or theft of mobile devices.

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Despite the risks connected to storing work-related information on personal devices, only 9 percent of companies are planning to introduce a strict ban on their usage in the future. Interestingly, 36 percent of the IT specialists surveyed are sure that, irrespective of any new measures, the number of user devices in the workplace will only increase.