Let's Seriously Consider NOW! BYOD - 7 Big Challanges

There are many types of Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) Challanges, which I have explained here:

• BYOD challenge #1: a wide variety of security risks

  
  BYOD security challenges and portable device security challenges may appear to be the same, but the former is much more serious because a company’s sensitive information may be co-mingled with an employee’s information. A portable device is typically associated with a device that is allowed to connect to the network, but isn’t governed by the organization. When we consider that the user is typically the weakest link in endpoint security, trusting your employees to handle sensitive data on their personal devices can be extremely risky. Without strict regulations on BYOD devices, bad actors can easily use a compromised phone to gain access to your organization’s network. In addition, confidential information can easily fall into the wrong hands if your employee’s phone is lost or stolen. Unfortunately, these examples only scratch the surface of what can happen when employees don’t exercise BYOD security best practices.

• BYOD challenge #2: BYOD compliance issues

  Certain industries—like healthcare for example—have very strict laws about how information is accessed, used, and distributed. A company’s compliance responsibilities extend to employees’ personal devices used for work, even though they aren’t part and parcel of the company, because they still come into contact with the company’s data. The inherent security risks associated with BYOD and the increased likelihood that employees might share confidential information with someone outside of the corporate network make compliance hard to enforce.

• BYOD challenge #3: issues with data removal and retrieval

  Let’s imagine that an employee is fired. If they previously accessed or stored sensitive information on their personal devices, they might take that information with them as they walk out the door. To reduce security risks, the employer must race to remove company data from the ex-employee’s laptop or phone. To prevent this mad dash, all employees should sign an agreement regarding the use of company data upon employment—but there are still no guarantees they’ll keep up their end of the bargain.

• BYOD challenge #4: loss of control over hardware

  It’s true that BYOD reduces hardware costs and takes some of the burden away from IT teams when it comes to maintaining employees’ devices—but that advantage comes with one very large disadvantage. Allowing employees to use their personal devices means that the IT department can’t control what apps are used, what files are downloaded, how often vulnerabilities are patched, or what security measures are taken on people’s personal devices. It’s much harder to prevent and mitigate data breaches when devices are not under IT department jurisdiction.

• BYOD challenge #5: vulnerability to malware
  

  Cybersecurity experts agree that malware attacks are one of the fastest-growing cybersecurity threats out there. It’s hard enough for businesses with full-fledged IT departments to stay on top of these viruses, but it’s even more difficult in a BYOD environment. Personal devices are more susceptible to malware because security measures for them aren’t as strict, particularly devices that are “jail-broken” or feature additional software the device wasn’t built for. One well-timed malware attack could instantly jeopardize the confidentiality of sensitive data.

• BYOD challenge #6: decreased productivity
  

  This challenge is somewhat contradictory—as mentioned earlier, many argue that the BYOD trend increases productivity because portable devices mean that  employees can work more flexibly. However, workplace distractions still exist. On company-provided computers, system administrators can block specific websites or  apps to keep employees focused, but the same cannot be said for personal devices. Although BYOD may enable productivity in some ways, it’s also very possible for it to introduce new interruptions to a work environment.

• BYOD challenge #7: inefficient password management

  Passwords are an organization’s first line of defense against data breaches and other cybersecurity threats. BYOD makes it harder to ensure that employees are using strong passwords, and many don’t change their passwords as frequently as they should. Small BYOD challenges like this can snowball into large network security concerns.