Bring your own device

Ever been invited, or required, to bring your mobile device to work? Then you’ve been told to BYOD, “bring your own device.” Is it common? Yes, and maybe even more common than you’d guess. A survey conducted in 2012 found about 74 percent of companies allowing some form of BYOD usage.

But this creates a serious need for mobile device management, iPhone management and patch management software that can prevent data loss, corruption or theft. Patch management has to do with installing manual or automatic updates to your device’s anti virus or other security software. iphone security means making sure no one can snoop through your phone.

But no BYOD system is perfect. For instance iOS 6.1, one of Apple’s newest mobile operating systems, has a flaw that’s bad news for BYOD in the workplace. There’s actually a way to completely bypass the user security code! This can put the device’s owner in a vulnerable position.

Perhaps to beat some of this risk, cloud based BYOD approaches have become more common. But even cloud storage presents a risk, especially as Google, Apple and Microsoft all move toward systems where one account and one login or password accesses all of a user’s accounts and info. It may be convenient, but in the BYOD business world, a single lucky break in can land individuals and businesses in trouble.

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