Should your employees work on their personal devices?

In this article you will learn:

• The benefits and risks of BYOD (bring your own device)

• How to protect your business with a BYOD approach

If you’re looking to expand your team and aren’t sure whether to invest in company technology or let employees use their own, we've laid out the risks of ‘bring your own device’ or BYOD and how you can avoid them if you decide to take this approach.

Are there any benefits of BYOD?

You might be asking yourself why businesses would adopt BYOD at all. Some of the perks include reducing costs of equipment and training, as employees work with technology they know well. There could also be a link to increased productivity as 78% of millennials in a PWC survey believe access to their own technology makes them more effective at work.

What are the risks?

The variety of operating systems, like Apple and Windows, could lead to synchronicity problems such as difficulty in sharing files or different presentation views. Using personal computers or phones for work can also have a serious impact on work-life balance, as it’s difficult to step away at the end of the working day.

The biggest issue, however, is security. Humans are the ‘weakest link’ when it comes to a business’ online defences. This means that employees are the first target hackers look to when launching a cyber-attack. With antivirus and other defence software that may be difficult to regulate on a personal device, your business’ information might be at higher risk.

Additionally, as a business owner, you have no control over where and when your employers’ personal devices are used. This means that if one of your staff loses their device or leaves your business, corporate data could be exploited and POPIA laws could be broken.

There are other, simpler threats a PDF or software download that has been laced with ‘malware’ (software designed to damage or gain unauthorised access). By doing this, employees could expose your entire business network to cyberattacks just by logging in from an infected device. To find out more about the most common cyber security threats today, click here.

How to make BYOD safe for your business

This, of course, doesn’t mean that businesses with a bring-your-own-device approach have to suffer the risks. There are solutions you can implement to protect your systems and data. It starts with using smart tech and establishing a protocol for employees to follow. You should pull together a cybersecurity policy for all employees to sign as a condition of employment. Here are some things you could include in your policy:

1. Employee education

As we mentioned, people are the easiest route to successfully pulling off a cybercrime. That’s why it’s so important that anyone using personal devices within your business is aware of the risks. Invest in cybersecurity training, so your team can learn to recognise threats and take the right action if they encounter an attack.

2. Using cloud

Moving your business’ data to a cloud provider is a great way to keep your information safe. This means everything is stored in the cloud, instead of on devices – whether personal or professional – and users are required to log in securely to gain access. Within the cloud, you can also set up safety measures like strong passwords and two-factor authentication, to make access even more difficult for hackers to get in. There are lots of cloud providers to choose from – such as Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services – and different levels of service they can offer, so it’s worth weighing up the options before investing.

3. Antivirus software

This can be tricky to impose on a personal device but we recommend including it in your business’ cybersecurity policy, so employees have a consistent, trusted security barrier on all devices. If used correctly and supported by cybersecurity training, cyberattacks can be stopped before they even become a problem.

Is it worth it?

The security risks of letting employees use personal devices should be taken seriously but with the right safety measures in place, you can minimise them, reduce company costs, and potentially boost productivity. If you decide to supply corporate devices instead of BYOD, we still suggest taking all the above measures. After all, with cyberattacks on the rise, you can never be too safe.

To find out more about how to protect your business, click here or take our free assessment to find out where the gaps are in your digital security system.