Five Tips to Brave the BYOD Boom

When it comes to IT security — it’s frightening how the glaringly obvious for some, are shocking moments of truth for others. The most recent Harris Interactive poll about data security in the workplace is proof that bad things can happen even when you’re sure you’ve thought of everything.
 
Kevin Vlasich, cryptography and information security specialist at Imation, shares his five tips for IT professionals facing the latest threat to identity and intellectual property — the BYOD boom.

Click through for five tips for IT professionals facing the BYOD boom, as identified by Kevin Vlasich, cryptography and information security specialist at Imation.

…the worst! Don’t hire a penetration tester. Save your money and assume “they” will get in – 75 percent of organizations have suffered data loss from negligent or malicious insiders.

…employees will use their personal devices on the corporate network, even if they are told not to. More than 50 percent of employees use portable devices to take confidential data out of their companies every day.

…that your employees value convenience more than security.  If a security policy is overly cumbersome or inconvenient, employees will find a way around it.  Don’t underestimate the ingenuity of employees looking to circumvent procedures that slow them down.

…that flash drives will be lost and IT will never know. Losing a $10 flash drive can be even worse than losing a laptop.  Stolen or lost laptops are reported, $10 flash drives are quietly replaced.  Use encrypted flash drives or don’t use them at all, right now only 35 percent of companies enforce data encryption on company issued devices.

…that an organization’s first and last defense against a security breach is its own employees. Training employees on good security practices offers the most bang for the buck. Everyone should learn how to recognize phishing attacks and fake anti-virus software advertisements – if it looks too good to be true, it really is.

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