Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to work policies for mobile devices could introduce more risk of cybercrime to employers. In a recent study, Norton found that 431 million adults or ten percent of adults have experienced cybercrime on their smartphones at an annual cost of $114 billion.
Cybercrime refers to crime using the internet, such as stealing bank or corporate intellectual property. Employees’ mobile devices may be more susceptible than ever because employers have limited controls for employees that use their personal devices at work. While 74 percent of respondents in the Norton survey indicate that they are aware of cybercrime threats, only 41 percent of adults have up-to-date software to protect them from this problem. In addition, less than half or 47 percent review credit card statements regularly for fraudulent activity, and 61 percent do not use complex passwords.
Recently, I learned about a Trojan application that surreptitiously sends SMS texts to premium-rate numbers, until the owner’s account balance is exhausted. Some organizations may take comfort in knowing they have a BYOD policy where employees pay all the charges, but financial risks may extend to security issues and data breaches. This is a big problem because only 16 percent of those who access the Internet using a mobile phone in the Norton survey indicated that they had up-to-date mobile security software.
If employees are not taking the time to review their credit card statements for fraud, they are even less likely to check telephone bills for erroneous charges or suspicious activity. Organizations need to think about proactive ways to provide security and other features for employees’ mobile devices. Wireless Expense Management WEM programs can help contain expenses and provide reporting that will highlight problems. In addition as hackers seek to exploit unprotected employees’ devices as entry points to mine sensitive data on the network, employers need to develop policies and utilize TEM software to reduce risks from security threats and runaway expenses. Mobile Device Management MDM and Managed Mobility Services are more important than ever with cybercrime.
What do you think?
