By Telecom Lead
Team:During the past 12 months, 51 percent of the
organizations experienced data loss resulting from employee use of insecure
mobile devices, including laptops, smartphones, USB devices, and tablets,
according to a survey conducted by Ponemon Institute in conjunction with
Websense.
Corporate mobile devices and the bring-your-own-device
(BYOD) phenomenon are outsmarting enterprise security and policies, as 76
percent of 4,000 respondents in 12 countries believe that these devices
put their organizations at risk – and only 39 percent have the necessary security
controls to address the risk.
Fifty-nine percent of respondents report that employees
circumvent or disengage security features, such as passwords and key locks, on
corporate and personal mobile devices.
Seventy-seven percent of respondents agree that the use
of mobile devices in the workplace is important to achieving business
objectives.
Insecure mobile devices increase rates of malware
infections. Fifty-nine percent of respondents say that over the past 12 months,
their organizations experienced an increase in malware infections as a result
of insecure mobile devices in the workplace, with another 25 percent unsure.
Other unacceptable uses include downloading and using
internet apps (44 percent) and using personal email accounts (43 percent).
“IT has spent years working on desktop security and
trying to prevent data loss over web and email channels – but mobile devices are
radically changing the game,” said Tom Clare, senior director of
product marketing management at Websense.
According to a previous Ponemon Institute survey,
IT respondents said 63 percent of breaches occurred as a result of mobile
devices. And only 28 percent said employee desktop computers were the cause.(i)
“We asked thousands of IT security professionals and
mobile devices were overwhelmingly important to business objectives,” said
Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute.
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