BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies have been causing headaches
to IT managers and company executives, ever since they became popular. However,
a recent survey reveals that there is something even worse than careless
employees using their own devices for work. Can you guess what it is? It’s none
other than careless employees using and losing work devices. Information Age
collected the most alarming figures from a recent survey of 2,500 UK adults, by
Vision Critical and Trend Micro.
The most disturbing news to IT managers is that more than
one quarter (27 per cent) of participants have reported having up to three work
devices lost or stolen, while only 11 per cent have ever lost a personal
device.
But the so-called “culture of carelessness” stretches well
beyond losing devices. Although 31 per cent of participants use Wi-Fi hotspots
on a regular basis, less than half of them (44 per cent) check security levels
of networks before connecting. The same percentage said they are more concerned
about losing personal content, like photos, documents and banking details, than
sensitive business data. Only 3 per cent were concerned about enabling
cybercriminals to access corporate data.
Rik Ferguson, global VP of security research at Trend Micro
said: “The survey shows a worrying attitude of carelessness towards work
devices and an ignorance of the full impact of losing data without the correct
security measures being put in place.”
“Employees should take the same amount of care with their
work device as they do with their personal ones, and be made fully aware of the
procedures and risks before a device is given to them.”
