BYOD has company IT departments on edge about network security
Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is increasingly becoming a common issue when companies address their network security needs. Whether it is laptops, smartphones, or tablets, IT departments need to establish a policy on what can be used on their internal networks, and how they can be protected.
We found this article “How a Big Financial Services Firm Faced BYOD iPads” from CIO.com to be a very informative look at how a company in a highly regulated industry not only allowed a BYOD environment, but encouraged it.
“At Blackstone, iPads began arriving on the enterprise scene 18 months ago. Today, there are some 600 iPads among nearly 2,000 employees that tap the corporate network for confidential documents and emails. Most of them are privately owned BYOD, or bring your own, devices.
“The percentage of iPads to employees will continue to go up, based on the number of iPads we’re adding each month,” Murphy says. “My gut is that it will go from 600 to more than 1,000 in the next year.”
Blackstone spent a lot of time and energy finding ways to secure confidential documents on BYOD iPads, even looking at possibly purchasing iPads for employees. The company leveraged two main technologies—MobileIron and WatchDox—to solve the security problem. “
When it comes to network security, you can never be too cautious. If you are uncertain how to handle your company’s policy on BYOD, contact us at Great Lakes Computer and we will be happy to set up a network system audit to detect vulnerabilities before they become an issue.
Learn more about the author Bob Martin
