Top Ten Tips to Protect Your Organization from BYOD Security Threats

Bring your own device (BYOD) is becoming increasingly popular in organizations. Staff enjoy the flexibility of remote working as well as the monthly stipends often afforded. Management benefits from the convenience of increased connectivity with its workers, spikes in user productivity, and less technical training for employees. However, these benefits do come with a cost – additional security and privacy risks. Discover the top ten tips that your organization can use to effectively manage BYOD security challenges.

1. Grant IT administrators access to manage devices remotely. There are several mobile device management solutions that you can use to have control over devices operating under multiple operating systems such as Airwatch Mobile Device Management or DataMart for Enterprises.
2. Develop a Clear BYOD Policy. Education is key when it comes to keeping your organization’s security safe. A clear policy can help employees understand what actions are safe and which to avoid. Clearly define what devices are permitted under the policy and what support procedures are in place for broken devices and network connectivity issues. Make sure to also explain who owns the data that is stored on the device.
3. Use Appropriate Security Software. Security concerns have increased with the rise of employees being able to access and share sensitive documents on their mobile devices. Giving employees access to a secure enterprise content management system (ECM) that is accessible from a mobile device allows mobile workers to easily search, view, and download documents and share content. Some mobile ECM solutions even include features where people can use their phones or tablets to take photos, notes, and print documents via a secure website.
4. Establish a standard password policy that all users must adhere to. Passcodes should be mandatory and dual authentication system tools like Duo Security and ZixOne should be utilized for further security.
5. Create an approved app list that details what apps are permissible to download and which third-party apps should be avoided.
6. Define remote device wiping procedures. Explain when devices are handed out how the user can back up their personal data in the event that the device needs to be wiped clean because of theft, loss, or employee resignation.
7. Keep your organization’s data backed up to the cloud. Establishing a redundant backup system can save your organization from the loss of data and minimize the impact of a lost or stolen device.
8. Caution your staff about the risks of jailbreaking or rooting their devices. Jailbreaking and rooting can leave mobile devices open to potential threats if handled by an inexperienced user. An unwanted app can exploit a jailbroken device and access sensitive data.
9. Prevent users from logging on to their mobile devices from the corporate network.Instead, use secure connections such as HTTPS & VPN when connecting to company resources. This will keep your data secure when users log on to an unfamiliar network such as a public wi-fi.
10. Block apps from downloading from unknown sources. Malicious apps (malware) are apps with code embedded within them that can compromise the security of the device or related data.