NEW YORK, NY — (Marketwire) — 10/11/12 — A new published by Businessweek discusses the positives and negatives of allowing employees to use their own electronic devices in the workplace. The piece explains that employees are generally happier when they can use their phones at work, and IT departments ultimately experience less operational strain when employees are forced to maintain their own equipment. However, devices which are brought from home provide greater potential for security breaches. , a popular retailer of consumer electronic goods, weighs in on the story.
The article advises that bring-your-own device programs are becoming increasingly popular in companies nationwide, according to a survey of more than 2,800 employers and workers. The survey was conducted by the Yankee Group, a technology consulting firm. The study found that this year 60 percent of companies have allowed personal consumer devices and software in the workplace, which is up from 43 percent in 2011.
At the same time, potential issues and challenges are presented to employers who allow personal devices. It is noted that when workers are allowed to use their own devices at work, companies experience greater risk for security breaches. To help ward off these potential issues, some companies- IT departments keep a watchful eye over employees- phones, much in the same way that they manage company-owned desktops and laptops. New technology allows employers to prevent employees from downloading apps that appear risky. Companies can also control an individual-s level of access on the network, and they have the ability to remotely erase sensitive corporate information should a device be lost or stolen.
However, the article explains that for those employees intent on stealing corporate secrets, some security precautions are not enough to block sensitive information from being leaked. Sometimes even individuals who have the best intentions allow this to happen. Carl Howe, an analyst for the Yankee Group explains, “You-re mixing corporate and personal information on the same device. People make mistakes. They may not use password protection and then leave their phone in a cab.”
The article explains that many companies try to prevent incidents like this from happening by talking to employees about the dangers of acting recklessly with personal mobile devices that also hold valuable and sensitive corporate information. Some companies also require workers to sign off on an agreement that states that they will always use password protection on their cell phones.
In a recent press statement, the team at commented on this article saying, “With any cell phone there-s a risk of losing that device or having it stolen. This becomes even more problematic when the phone contains sensitive work-related information. Business owners can never totally prevent against company secrets going public, but it-s important that they educate employees about the importance of protecting their devices. Things like password protection, or apps that track lost or stolen phones, take only a minute to install but can truly come in handy in the event that a cell phone goes missing.”
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