Trying to safely manage a BYOD policy is a minefield of risks, which is why organizations are turning to an innovative zero trust mobile access solution to instantly resolve security flaws.

Almost 80% of US-based companies have used BYOD since 2018, but a growing number are discovering BYOD can often stand for “Bring Your Own Disaster.” This is because BYOD essentially extends the company’s network out into the world and exposes firms to risks related to client, employee, or corporate data. 

For most organizations the decision to implement a BYOD policy has lots to do with productivity and flexibility, but little to do with security. So while it can help organizations to be more efficient and effective, the security implications can quickly outweigh the benefits. Securing BYOD is a headache, and far more complicated and problematic than corporate-owned endpoints. This is why even the biggest corporations are at risk. 

Significant BYOD Data Breaches 

Global consulting firm, Deloitte suffered a substantial data breach in 2017, which was attributed to an administrator’s account being accessed after using an unprotected device. This impacted their email system and exposed highly sensitive client data, including that of the US Department of Defence. 

LastPass, an award-winning password manager, which saves passwords and gives secure access from every computer and mobile device, had its systems breached in 2022 after a hacker stole source code and technical information from a home computer belonging to one of the company’s DevOps engineers.

The growing culture of BYOD devices in healthcare is now also one of the biggest security threats facing the sector, according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Key BYOD Vulnerabilities 

 The underlying concerns of security professionals regarding BYOD deployment are data leakage (62%), users downloading unsafe apps or content (54%), and lost or stolen devices being compromised (53%), according to Bitglass’s 2021 BYOD Security Report. 

While many businesses have specific BYOD policies in place to guard against security vulnerabilities, enforcing them is problematic. This leaves organizations and their data at risk due to: 

Poorly secured Wi-Fi networks: When employees are working remotely using their own devices to connect to unsecured public Wi-Fi networks they can expose sensitive data to potential security threats. 

Not updating software: Personal devices may not contain the most up-to-date software and security patches. This can leave them vulnerable to hacking attempts. 

Unauthorized apps: Unknowingly downloading and using unauthorized applications on personal devices provides a significant threat of malware or spyware compromising company data. 

Sharing unsecured data: Sharing data using unauthorized messaging apps and personal email accounts can expose sensitive data to security risks. 

Data at rest: When an employee accesses confidential content in a BYOD environment, the data leaves the corporate network and rests on their device, even using the most advanced data protection solutions and authentication protocols.

The Solution for All BYOD Threats

Symmetrium’s zero trust mobile access solution has been designed to help organizations keep data protected in a BOYD environment. It works by the creation of virtual devices that reside within the organization’s own IT environment. 

When remotely accessed these virtual devices act as extensions of all organizational security and compliance policies using end-to-end encrypted streaming. The result is a completely native mobile experience with seamless deployment and management.

Corporate data is always accessed virtually using Symmetrium via the organizational network, and therefore at no time sits on the user’s actual device. The result is that data remains secure and is never put at risk.

With each mobile device acting as an on-prem laptop, it allows for full control over the data employees access and shields this data from any risks associated with the BYOD device being used to access it. 

This allows for minimum-resources BYOD mobile management via a central management console for all devices, OS and brands. All is integrated smoothly into existing security and GRC data access protocols through one single app. The result is organizations can finally be confident their data remains secure and protected at all times regardless of the device being used to access it. 

Isn’t it time you reconsidered your approach to BYOD? Book a demo with Symmetrium here.