BYOD Puts One in Three Organisations' Corporate Security at Risk

ABINGDON, England, November 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

23 per cent of businesses admit to losing data through BYOD

Businesses are putting their corporate security at risk, with one in three organisations (33 per cent) allowing their staff unrestricted access to corporate resources from their personal smartphones, according to a survey conducted by B2B International on behalf of Kaspersky Lab.

The research revealed that 38 per cent of companies apply some kind of restriction on smartphone use, such as bans on access to certain network resources. A further 19 per cent have a complete ban on the use of mobile devices for work activities, but only 11 per cent of businesses currently use Mobile Device Management (MDM) software to ensure compliance with corporate security policies.

Despite many companies placing no restrictions on the use of personal devices (smartphones, tablets and laptops), 34 per cent of those surveyed think these devices present a significant threat to the business. A worrying 23 per cent admitted they had already lost business data due to the loss or theft of mobile devices, indicating a significant security risk from the use of personal devices in the workplace.

Even with the evident risks connected to storing work-related information on personal devices, only 9 per cent of organisations are planning to introduce a strict ban on their usage in the future. This could be explained by the fact that 36 per cent of the IT specialists surveyed believed that, irrespective of any new measures, the number of user devices in the workplace will only increase.

David Emm, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab comments; "BYOD is a tricky subject for organisations. Allowing employees the opportunity to use their own devices in the workplace can lead to enhanced productivity and creativity, but can also bring increased risk. Rather than applying a blanket ban on the use of personal devices, businesses should look to manage and secure the use of these devices, enabling them to reap the benefits of BYOD without the security worry."

Kaspersky Lab offers corporate protection solutions for laptops under Windows, Linux and MacOS, and for smartphones and other devices, each designed to tackle the specifics of the device in question. For more information on the capacities of these programs and the latest news on Kaspersky Lab's corporate solutions please visit http://images.kaspersky.co.uk/beready/our-solutions.

The full research report from B2B International is available here.

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About Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab is the world's largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world's top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its 15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for consumers, SMBs and Enterprises. The company currently operates in almost 200 countries across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at http://www.kaspersky.co.uk. For the latest on antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and other IT security issues and trends, visit: http://www.securelist.com/.

*The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor, 2010. The rating was published in the IDC report Worldwide IT Security Products 2011-2015 Forecast and 2010 Vendor Shares - December 2011. The report ranked software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2010.

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SOURCE Kaspersky Lab