Employees might feel more comfortable using personal devices for work and even save the company money in doing so, but there is a costly trade-off: security. 43% of employees have been targeted with work-related phishing attacks. A report recently released explored how employees’ use of personal apps and devices could open the door to security threats.
The use of personal devices for work has been increasing. One reason for this is convenience. As more people work remotely or adopt a hybrid approach, employees want to be able to do their jobs from anywhere and at any time, which often requires that they use their own PC or mobile device. People are familiar with their own devices and apps, which lessens the learning curve involved in using a different, company-issued device.
How employees use their personal devices for work:
• 66% of the employees use their personal texting apps for work.
• 59% use their personal and private messaging apps for work.
• 57% sometimes use their work email for personal reasons.
How using your own device can lead to security threats:
• 71% said employees store sensitive work passwords on their personal phone, opening the door to compromise.
• 43% of the employees have been the target of a phishing attack on their personal device.
What to do?
Conduct Security Training
Test or audit employees to make sure the instructions they receive are followed.
Keep IoT devices on separate networks and ensure that they’re updated.
Ensure your firewall and anti-virus/anti malware is up to date and operational.
What can you do when this happens to you?If you find your network has been compromised, immediately shut down.
Identify the breach and type of virus or malware present.
Identify any data which might have been compromised or stolen and inform appropriate parties.
Rebuild the network from a known clean backup
Source: Lance Whitney, Tech Republic
BYOD: A Recipe for Data Breaches, Says Survey (techrepublic.com)
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