According to new research from Samsung and dissected by IT services specialist ITC Infotech, device and data security will assume critical significance for companies adopting a bring your own device (BYOD) policy, “especially with nearly 50 percent of companies having reported lost mobile handsets in the last year.”
The research ins question found that 47 percent of UK companies had a work handset lost or stolen in the last 12 months.
What’s more, 30 percent of CTOs were however unaware of the number. Alongside this, a global survey of CIOs by leading analyst Gartner found that as many of 38 percent of companies plan to stop providing their workforce with devices at all by 2016.
“Laptops, mobiles and tablets can cost many hundreds of pounds per year for each employee, so BYOD has become very attractive. However, far from enjoying flexibility and lower costs, companies that rush into BYOD without a strong policy face considerable risks,” explains Hardeep Singh Garewal, President of European Operations for ITC Infotech.
“For unprepared companies, a lost or stolen device represents a catastrophic security risk, with the potential cost to their business far outweighing the savings. There are many solutions available, but we see many companies failing to implement a clear policy on keeping track of work devices. This hinders them from acting quickly to prevent breaches,” adds Garewal.
