Password Protection is Advised

It’s no secret that employees are bringing their own devices to the office these days, and most of them are using their own tablets, phones and laptops for work. BYOD is in, and companies are taking efforts to ensure that employees who bring their own devices keep their data protected and secure… theoretically.

In reality, less than half of employees using the same device for work and personal business work for companies with policies for mobile device usage. According to a survey from Coalfire, which interviewed around 400 employees in a variety of industries in North America, too many companies don’t have policies to protect company data, and don’t discuss security issues with mobile devices with their employees.

The survey revealed quite a few shocking statistics about cybersecurity awareness and device security. While around 84 percent of those surveyed said they use the same smartphone in and out of the office, almost half of them have no password for their mobile phone, and 36 percent just use the same password for everything. Should the devices me locked or lost, more than half the companies can’t remotely wipe the device, leaving the data compromised. Of course, the IT departments aren’t exactly keeping the employees in the know, as almost half the respondents say the IT departments haven’t discussed mobile security with the employees.

Let’s look at the obvious problem here: the lack of security. To begin with, we all know that phones can get lost, so having them password protected is important. Good passwords, too, not something obvious like “12345.” This is a device with important company information, as well as personal information, not the air shields of Druidia. Keep passwords safe so no one can steal those.

I shouldn’t have to be the one to explain this, though. If an IT department isn’t doing anything to keep employees educated about cybersecurity, either they have a lot of faith in their employees (which appears to be misplaced in some of these instances), or haven’t put enough thought into it. It’s IT’s job to make sure there are policies in place to keep company data safe, especially with BYOD as popular as it is.

There are plenty of solutions out there for companies in need of a BYOD policy, capable of keeping company data secure on personal devices, solutions that can track or remotely delete the data should the device be compromised. It’s a worthwhile investment, even if it’s just as a precaution.

I’m all for trusting one’s employees, and in many cases, the personal devices will remain safe with or without a password or policy. However, caution is always advised, and in those rare cases where something does go wrong, you want to know your devices are protected. It’s simple security, and better to be safe than sorry.

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