The Mobile Devices and BYOD Webinar was presented by Alan M. Buckwalter, the Founder and Managing Partner of Jefric Consulting, LLC as part of a series of technology webinars sponsored by the Technology Interest Group. Mr. Buckwalter provide a comprehensive overview of the benefits and risks associated with mobile devices and the concept of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).
A mobile device is defined as a small, hand-held computing device, typically having a display screen with touch input and/or a miniature keyboard and weighing less than 2 pounds. We are familiar with these mobile devices as our smartphones, tablets, and ultrabooks (lightweight laptops). This technology is gaining in popularity at a rapid pace from both a personal and business perspective. Where the original interest was in mobile e-mail, messaging, and surfing the web, these devices are now becoming an extension or replacement of a regular desktop or laptop computer.
Remote desktop capabilities are now enabling employees to connect to their company's network directly from their mobile device. These capabilities come with significant benefits such as increased productivity and improved customer response, but they also come with risks related to data security and increased IT costs.
Companies are using various strategies to incorporate mobile devices into their workforce. Some are providing company issued devices and some are allowing a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. BYOD describes the trend of employees bringing personally-owned mobile devices to their place of work, and using those devices to access privileged company resources such as e-mail, file servers, and databases. Companies are implementing a BYOD policy in an effort to eliminate the cost of purchasing the devices for their employees, but the risk exposure and IT management complexity may result in greater costs over the long term. Protecting privileged company data and resources accessed from a personal device is much broader in scope and harder to control. It has been assessed that a BYOD policy may actually cost 33 percent more than a company issued policy due to the additional cost of controlling access and the stress on the IT department.
Although these concerns are obvious and real, a large percentage of companies already permit some type of BYOD policy. Looking at the concepts of usability versus security, usability is winning out. Mobile devices are here to stay and as Mr. Buckwalter pointed out, “preparation is key.”
For both personal and business devices, users need to learn how to protect their devices. Some guidelines are as follows:
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Lock with a password.
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Enable “find me” services.
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Be careful at mobile hot-spots. Encrypt your network.
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Check your bluetooth settings.
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Minimize the data stored on the device. Avoid using your mobile device as a hard-disk and storing sensitive data
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Know how to use the “remote-wipe” feature.
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Keep your device up to date with the most recent security updates from the manufacturer.
Policies and procedures are necessary for any company usage of mobile devices, whether they are company issued or personally owned. A BYOD policy brings another layer of complexity because there are additional questions around who is responsible for the device when it needs support; who is responsible if it is lost or compromised; or what happens to company data when the employee leaves the firm.
Mr. Buckwalter provides interesting details on trends in the marketplace and resources for implementing company policies. If this topic is impacting your firm, this webinar will give you a great overview and starting point for determining your next steps.
You can access the webinar and handouts here.
The Technology Interest Group presents its next webinar, Disaster Recovery and Backups on February 5.
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