Bring your own device or BYOD actually refers to the employees bringing their own personal devices like – Tablets, Smartphones, and laptops to their workplaces. They use their own devices instead of using the devices provided by the company. The popularity of BYOD is increasing as the number of people owning high-end mobile computing devices is getting higher. As the employees become more attached to the devices or mobile they use, they are comfortable in working on them in their workplaces. Numerous companies have agreed to support the personal mobile devices; some may even provide a stipend to their employees to make them purchase their own devices.
Although by BYOD, companies are offering greater flexibilities to its employees, it is also having a huge impact on the enterprise software. This is causing the personal devices to interfere with the corporate data. While BYOD is very beneficial for the employees, it is putting the organizations in risk, and the most affected organizations are the small and medium ones who don't have enough resources to mitigate the challenges that BYOD is posing.
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BYOD is certainly a tempting business model, but it has its downside too. The security risks associated with BYOD are numerous, and this is the growing concern for the establishments. Below are given the impacts of BYOD on the enterprise software:
- Increase the risk of data leakages – Mobile phones and the tablets are the weakest links when it comes to security threats. As more and more workforce is getting dependent on mobile phones, the risk of data leakage has increased a lot which has increased the need of securing mobile devices. When the companies do not provide devices to their employees, the onus for protecting the employees’ devices lies in the company.
- Exploit vulnerabilities – The companies have less control over the devices that their employees use which indicates that they are more prone to the cyber attacks. Employees download mobile apps and use the Wi-Fi spots that are not secure. This creates the security gaps which can be exploited by the hackers. Additionally, the fact that only a few employees use anti-virus protection or have an updated firewall makes the condition worse.
- Mixing personal data with business data- As the employees are using their personal devices, they tend to store their personal and business data on the same device. So there will be a certain type of data that will remain unsecured. The biggest threat is by the malware that an employee unknowingly installs in his phone. This malware can find its way to the business network and the enterprise software.
Hackers also use keyboard logging to record the login and password credentials, in order to prevent them from stealing the login details and passwords, companies should generate one time passwords so that users can use the temporary passwords thus generated to log in to the company’s software and data. Enterprise app development companies can provide businesses with effective BYOD solutions. These solutions are helpful in keeping the business data secure along with providing the benefits of enterprise mobility to the employees.
- Risks caused due to lost or stolen devices – The biggest risk to the company’s data is when employees’ devices are lost or stolen. To ensure that the company’s data remains unaffected, it is crucial that they implement encryption tactics. Making the employees actually understand the importance of the pin codes to keep their personal as well as business data safe is paramount.
Implementing the wiping technology where the IT department can wipe the data on the device once its stolen can keep the companies data in the enterprise software safe.
The security issues of the BYOD are many and to eliminate these threats there are few enterprise mobility solutions that a company can opt for:
- Enterprise mobility management – It is a set of technologies that are designed to keep the business data safe in the employees’ mobile devices. It generally consists of mobile management systems that ensure the safety of data and integrate with various enterprises IT systems. Enterprise mobility management combines the MDM and MAM, and therefore it works to protect the data, manage the apps, eliminate the threat and separate the personal and corporate data. The primary aim of Enterprise mobility management is to offer insight to the applications and data that is being accessed by mobile devices, to limit the security risks and to maintain corporate compliance.
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- Mobile application management – MAM software allows the enforcement of the corporate policies on mobile apps to prevent corporate data sharing among the apps. It also allows the separation of personal data with corporate data on the same mobile device. MAM includes the functions like device activation, enrollment and provisioning, remote wipe and many more.
- Virtual hosted Desktop containerization – Virtual desktop technology creates a complete computer image which has an operating system and all applications. Any machine can connect to the virtual desktop, and the storage takes place on a central server. VHD places the crucial applications in the safe zone, and it protects them from particular functions like USB ports, device cameras, and wireless network connections.