BYOD vulnerabilities remain ubiquitous. Bitglass BYOD Security Report 2021 Reveals: Organizations still lack the visibility and technology to protect unmanaged personal devices from modern threats.
The latest BYOD Security Report from cloud security provider Bitglass shows that with the rapidly growing use of unmanaged personal devices in the workplace (BYOD), companies are ill-equipped to deal with security threats such as malware and data theft. In the course of hybrid working models and permanent remote work, more devices are connected to the company network, which increases the surface area for attack. In collaboration with Cybersecurity Insiders, Bitglass asked security experts from various industries how the pandemic-induced increase in home office work has affected security and data protection risks.
Companies are increasingly supporting BYOD
47 percent of the organizations reported an increase in the use of personal devices for work purposes due to the pandemic-induced relocation to the home office. As a result, a total of 82 percent of organizations said they are now actively enabling BYOD to some extent. While the use of personal devices has helped organizations improve employee productivity and satisfaction while reducing costs, challenges related to managing device access and mobile security remain.
Protection against data loss is a key concern
The top security concern of respondents was loss or theft of data (62 percent). Other concerns related to downloading unsafe apps or content (54 percent), lost or stolen devices (53 percent), and unauthorized access to corporate data and systems (51 percent).
Securing private devices against modern security threats is sometimes a blind spot in companies
22 percent of organizations can confirm that unmanaged devices downloaded malware in the past 12 months. However, almost half (49 percent) said that they are not sure or cannot say whether this also applies to them. This lack of transparency can have detrimental effects on the entire company.
Many organizations use outdated security tools
A total of 41 percent of organizations said they rely on endpoint malware protection for BYOD - an approach that is not ideal for personal devices that are difficult to manage and control. More than a quarter (30 percent) of companies said they did not protect themselves from malware at all with BYOD. Although cloud-based anti-malware tools are often a far better solution, only 11 percent of the companies surveyed are currently using these measures.
"As mobility and remote working environments increase, so do the challenges, ranging from managing device access to dealing with urgent mobile security issues," says Holger Schulze, founder of Cybersecurity Insiders. "Our research uncovered a wealth of evidence showing that organizations are not paying enough attention to securing unmanaged personal devices and why it is now time for them to think differently about securing BYOD."
Pay more attention to BYOD
“As organizations increasingly shift to hybrid work environments, personal devices provide the flexibility and remote access employees need. However, this new way of working will undoubtedly overwhelm the resources of security teams,” says Anurag Kahol, CTO, Bitglass. "Therefore, there has never been a more important time for organizations to seriously rethink their approach to securing all forms of communication between users, devices, apps or web destinations."
Survey method
Cybersecurity Insiders surveyed 2021 IT security professionals in April 271 to get an in-depth look at the BYOD security threats that companies face and what solutions they are using to counter or eliminate them. The respondents range from technical managers to IT security practitioners and represent a balanced cross-section of organizations of different sizes and from different industries. The current BYOD Security Report 2021 from Bitglass can be downloaded free of charge.
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About Bitglass Bitglass is a global provider of a NextGen CASB solution based in Silicon Valley. The company's cloud security solutions offer agentless zero-day, data and threat protection everywhere, for every application and every device. Bitglass is funded by senior investors and was founded in 2013 by a group of industry veterans who have introduced and implemented numerous innovations in the past.