Acronis’ 2013 Data Protection Trends Research, which evaluated responses from more than 570 UK IT professionals, discovered that:
1.There Are Big Gaps in BYOD Policies
Almost 60 percent have no personal device policy in place, and, among those with policies, 23 percent make exceptions for executives, who may handle even more sensitive data. As a result, these organisations are increasingly vulnerable to data loss and serious compliance issues.
A number of organisations are still in denial when it comes to BYOD trends, as just under a quarter (23 percent) surveyed actually forbid personal devices from accessing the network.
Nearly 80 percent of organisations haven’t educated employees on BYOD privacy risks.
2.Simple Security Precautions Are Falling to the Wayside
Just 21 percent of companies mandate a device password or key lock on personal devices, and only 18 percent perform remote device wipes when employees leave the company, drastically increasing the risk for data leakage.
3.Businesses Underestimate the Dangers of Public Clouds
Corporate files are commonly shared through third-party cloud storage solutions such as DropBox, but 69 percent of organisations don’t have a policy in place around public clouds and 80 percent haven’t trained employees in the proper use of these platforms.
4.Businesses Fear Apple Devices Are Complicating BYOD Security
While 59 percent of organisations will support Macs in the next year, more than half (61 percent) say compatibility and interoperability are still big obstacles to getting Macs compliant with IT, which puts data stored and shared across the corporate network and on Apple devices at risk.
“Personal devices have permanently and positively changed the workplace, particularly in the way employees collaborate, work remotely and interact with company data,” said Rick Powles, managing director UK & Ireland, Acronis. “BYOD is a huge opportunity for companies, but our research shows troubling signs of negligence in the face of these dangers. However, with policies and solutions that manage the flow of data between multiple devices and environments, companies can practice safe BYOD with confidence.”