While 77 percent of IT professionals say workplace mobile devices help achieve business objectives, 76 percent also say these devices put their organizations at risk, according to a new Websense survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute.
In fact, only 39 percent of respondents have the necessary security controls to address the risk.
"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," says Tom Clare, senior director of product marketing management. "Tablets and iOS devices are replacing corporate laptops as employees bring-their-own-devices to work and access corporate information. These devices open the door to unprecedented loss of sensitive data. IT needs to be concerned about the data that mobile devices access and not the device itself."
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The survey also finds that 59 percent of respondents say employees circumvent or disengage security features, such as passwords and key locks, on corporate and personal mobile devices. Over the last 12 months, 51 percent of the surveyed organizations say they faced data loss resulting from employee use of insecure mobile devices, including laptops, smartphones, USB devices and tablets.
Another 59 percent of respondents say over the past 12 months their organizations saw an increase in malware infections because of insecure mobile devices in the workplace. Twenty-five percent, however, are unsure if this is true for their organizations.
Most likely because of fears of theft or leaking confidential information, 65 percent of respondents are most concerned with employees taking photos or videos in the workplace. Other unacceptable uses include downloading and using internet apps at 44 percent and using personal email accounts at 43 percent. Forty-two percent of respondents say downloading confidential data onto devices, such as USB or Bluetooth, is not allowed in their organizations.
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