A provider of Digital Certificates worldwide, today announced results of a survey revealing how the introduction of employee owned devices to access network resources is becoming a popular yet growing concern for Enterprise CEOs, CISOs and IT administrators. GlobalSign has published a white paper that provides best practices surrounding implementing a secure, affordable, and non-intrusive approach to BYOD.
Completed by 150 IT professionals that attended Infosecurity Europe 2012 in London in April, the survey indicated that 67% of IT professionals expressed growing concerns regarding employees accessing sensitive corporate information via their own mobile devices. BYOD in the workplace benefits both the employee and employer, increasing productivity and raising job satisfaction levels by affording employees extra flexibility and freedom. However, security and employee privacy concerns continue to hamper the adoption of formal BYOD policies within Enterprises.
•59% of professionals surveyed do not yet have a formal BYOD security plan in place
•Corporate issued devices as well as personal owned devices accessing sensitive data and network services were a concern to 62% of participants
•Microsoft Exchange, Wi-Fi, VPN are the most popular resources requiring BYOD access
•Over half of respondents reported that BYOD is already happening within their organisation of 200 or more employees
GlobalSign conducted the survey to coincide with the European launch of its iOS Identity Certificate solution that safeguards corporate networks by only allowing authorised individuals and devices to permitted resources such as Wi-Fi and Corporate email. iOS Identity Certificates are easily delivered “over-the-air” to approved employees via GlobalSign’s Enterprise PKI (ePKI) solution. The approach of keeping “bad guys” out without relinquishing employee control of their personal devices is the “middle-ground” Enterprise should focus on.
“Organisations are holding out for all encompassing, but impractical BYOD security solutions that treat a non-corporate owned mobile device like a corporate laptop or desktop ”, said Lila Kee, Chief Product Officer for GlobalSign. “BYOD policies are yet to be tried and legally tested, and mobile devices are highly personal items, which is why organisations should instead focus on the one or two high productivity applications that could benefit from easily managed access control, and apply an appropriate solution such as GlobalSign’s iOS Identity Certificates.”
Organisations can purchase iOS Identity Certificates for as few as 5 users, starting at an introductory offer of £285 for 1 year validity certificates. Other volume pricing and validity periods are available.