We are living in the technological age and this increases the dependence on technology to completely new levels. The IT environment is changing rapidly and this has lead to an increase in the adoption of mobile devices today. Surveys have backed claims that smartphones are now the most favored devices for employees to use at work, going even ahead of laptops. There are currently over 2 billion smartphone users all over the world and sales regarding smartphones and tablets this year is going to be over a billion worldwide!

According to recent technology news, the vast majority of organizations today are also implementing cutting edge policies such as the Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD). This is because employees like using devices of their own choice, since they are more familiar with it plus they also get more flexibility from it when they are doing their work on it. They don’t have to learn about the basics of operating a new device or application as well. Surveys revealed that over 30% of employees today prefer to use their own devices even if their employer decides to monitor their devices on the corporate network of their company.

A lot of companies today have decided to cut down on their costs by adopting similar BYOD policies, but there is also the risk of mobile security. It is even more challenging because the IT department is not in charge of the security on these devices. The potential risks that these devices face include the following:

· IT administrators can’t monitor these devices properly and no forensic data can be gathered in the event of a data breach from mobile phones.

· The employee owned devices may run the risk of compromising the security of the entire corporate network due to unsecure applications.

· They are also susceptible to data leakage and malware infections as a result of being run on unsecure networks.

· Personal smartphones also face more risks as most of them have been ‘rooted’ or have been ‘jail broken’. They can be overrun by malware, which can be embedded in the software that was used to root the phone, while applications that have been downloaded from various sources may also override the security of the device.

· Sensitive data will be easily lost if the employee decides to leave the company, since these smartphones have had unauthorized access to the corporate network.

· Smartphones are also prone to attacks as a result of so many social applications being run on them.

Countering the Risks

To counter the risks that are associated with mobile usage in the workplace, IT administrators have to make mobile security an important aspect of their network security strategy. Keeping abreast with the most recent technology news will allow them to properly monitor the use of these employee owned devices. They can also implement mechanisms that safeguard corporate data and resources from these mobile devices.

The potential risks certainly make a great case about why you should take more care towards developing mobile security, since that could mean protecting the vital assets and data of your company.