Cybersecurity issues of BYOD and how to overcome them

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies have become a hot topic in recent years and many see them as a great way to make employees more mobile, which is particularly helpful in the public sector.

The growth of mobile has allowed many organisations to let their employees use their own portable devices such as smartphones, tablets and personal digital assistants (PDAs) for work purposes.

When BYOD first came on to the scene, many working in IT resisted it. Now it is known for its many benefits in creating a highly agile, mobility-driven, productive organisation, and most are willing to get the most out of BYOD while minimising cyber-security risks.

However, organisations are vulnerable to IT security risks without a formal BYOD policy in place.

Here are five top tips for minimising risks surrounding BYOD:

1. Keep a record of all connected devices and their users. This will make it easier to locate unauthorised connections.

2. Look into enhanced security tools, such as allowing device owners to store their work and personal apps and data separately.

3. Invest in a mobile device management (MDM) system to enrol devices, specify network access rights and apply content filtering.

4. Make full use of existing network tools to manage mobile devices more smoothly

5. Ensure staff have passwords on their devices before you give them access to cooperate resources.