Switching to a BYOD Policy Will Soon Be Inevitable

[Audrey McNeil <audrey () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://tech.co/networks-oncoming-onslaught-byod-2015-01

Companies have been hearing for years about the unstoppable trend of “bring
your own device” (BYOD). Some have adopted BYOD policies in an effort to
stay ahead of that trend and get an early start on reaping the benefits
that come from having employees use their personal devices on the job.
Other organizations have been hesitant to embrace BYOD, focusing instead on
its challenges and thinking they can get by without giving in to popular
demand. For those companies, avoiding BYOD may no longer be an option.
According to Gartner, by 2017 roughly half of all organizations will have
adopted a BYOD policy of some sort. There’s no stopping BYOD, and if
businesses want to get the most out of it, they’ll need to begin their
preparations now. Of particular concern is preparing their networks before
employees start bringing their devices into the office.

The Challenges Brought by BYOD Policies

In truth, connecting personal devices to a business network isn’t all that
different from connecting company-provided devices. The issue becomes a lot
more complicated, however, as BYOD is adopted across an entire company,
increasing the number of devices that IT workers need to worry about. While
most people use a smartphone, they also tend to use more devices, which
they can bring in for work purposes. This represents one of the biggest
challenges organizations have when it comes to connecting personal devices
to the network. With BYOD, when employees use their own devices, the
variety of those devices is much greater than what’s seen at an
organization still supplying the devices to their workers. There are many
differences between an iPhone, a Samsung Galaxy device, and a Windows
Phone;  IT personnel have to take all of that into account when preparing
the network for BYOD.

Beyond the wide variety of devices, security remains a significant
challenge for businesses looking to adopt BYOD. The more devices that
connect to a network, the more chances cyber criminals have to gain entry
into a company’s systems; each device essentially represents an entry point
that can be compromised and exploited. For every added device, the risks of
human error also increase. Employees make mistakes all the time, which can
lead to the introduction of malware onto a network. Even if an organization
is able to protect its network from outside attackers, data loss is another
problem to worry about. With data becoming so valuable to companies, losing
any type of data can mean a real setback for growth and success.

By now it should be easy to see that preparing a network for BYOD is far
from easy. Not only do IT teams have to worry about security, they need to
prepare for network density problems. The more devices connected to a
network, the likelier it is for problems to crop up with regards to the
speed of the network. Since employees will likely bring in more than one
device, and since more devices are connecting to the Internet than ever
before, businesses with BYOD policies will likely see clogged and degraded
networks. Increasing the number of access points and radio waves emitting
from those points can help solve the problem, but simply upgrading
technology may not be enough to handle the massive influx of devices
expected with BYOD.

Overcoming These Challenges

Companies still hoping to incorporate BYOD into their business strategy
shouldn’t let these network challenges dissuade them from embracing BYOD.
There are plenty of solutions to these issues. Mobile device management
(MDM) software is one such solution, giving IT workers the ability to
manage each device and control the applications each employee is using on
their smartphone or tablet. Data loss prevention (DLP) tools can also help
companies secure their data by keeping the most sensitive information
within the boundaries set by the organization and out of the hands of
criminals. A well-written BYOD policy should also not be overlooked since
it can outline acceptable behavior for employees while at work, thereby
decreasing the security risks associated with BYOD.

There’s much to be gained from adopting BYOD, but making the transition is
not necessarily an easy thing to do. Each organization will have to prepare
their networks beforehand or else face difficult problems in the future.
Starting now is practically a requirement, because after BYOD becomes the
mainstream strategy, businesses will then have to worry about the Internet
of Things, which connects even more devices to the network. If companies
prepare for BYOD early, the benefits will be there from the beginning, and
they’ll be ready to adopt other useful trends in the years to come.

_______________________________________________
Dataloss Mailing List (dataloss () datalossdb org)
Archived at http://seclists.org/dataloss/
Unsubscribe at http://lists.osvdb.org/mailman/listinfo/dataloss
For inquiries regarding use or licensing of data, e-mail
        sales () riskbasedsecurity com 

Supporters:

Risk Based Security (http://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/)
YourCISO is an affordable SaaS solution that provides a comprehensive information security program that ensures focus 
on the right security.  If you need security help or want to provide real risk reduction for your clients contact us!