New survey by Company85: businesses not ready for consumerisation

A new survey in the UK has found that two-thirds of employees now have an option to use personal devices for work-related purposes, yet most of these devices lack basic security measures.

The study, which was carried out by IT and security consultancy Company85, questioned 100 individuals in February 2012.  42 per cent of respondents said that their organisations officially allowed personal devices to be used, with a further 26 per cent stating that they were able to use such devices ‘unofficially’. However, over half of respondents claimed that basic precautions, like encryption and anti-malware tools, were not used on these personal devices.

According to Steve Watterson, CTO of Company85, this is leaving businesses open to security and liability vulnerabilities: “With the trend toward ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) and consumerisation gaining ground, it’s vital that organisations put a policy in place – even if that policy is simply to ban their use. And in many cases such a ban would be difficult to enforce.

“The key is to educate users and to define business objectives and risks, in order to understand what data needs protecting and how best to achieve that.”

A copy of Company85′s finding and recommendations for developing a BYOD policy can be downloaded here.

About Company85

Company85 is an award-winning independent technology consultancy, specialising in cyber security and privacy, storage and backup, and IT transformation. Headquartered in London, Company85 delivers projects in the UK and internationally across Europe, Africa and Middle East. In April 2012 it was shortlisted as Specialist Business Continuity Company of the Year.