Computerworld -
Workers are planning to do more online holiday shopping this year while on the job, with many using their own personal smartphones and tablets, a new survey shows.
As a result, many IT managers are worried about corporate network security since personal devices may face a greater risk of being hacked during shopping forays, according to ISACA, a non-profit IT advisory group with 95,000 members. Most are IT workers and managers.
In two surveys, ISACA found that the average American will spend 32 hours shopping online this holiday season, with 11 of those hours on a personally-owned smartphone or tablet that is also used for work tasks. Because the device connects to corporate networks and accesses data at times, its use for personal online transactions can post a significant hacker risk to companies unless precautions are taken, ISACA officials said.
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Computerworld - Workers are planning to do more online holiday shopping this year while on the job, with many using their own personal smartphones and tablets, a new survey shows.
As a result, many IT managers are worried about corporate network security since personal devices may face a greater risk of being hacked during shopping forays, according to ISACA, a non-profit IT advisory group with 95,000 members. Most are IT workers and managers.
In two surveys, ISACA found that the average American will spend 32 hours shopping online this holiday season, with 11 of those hours on a personally-owned smartphone or tablet that is also used for work tasks. Because the device connects to corporate networks and accesses data at times, its use for personal online transactions can post a significant hacker risk to companies unless precautions are taken, ISACA officials said.
"Our key point is that we want to ensure the 'bring-your-own-device' trend works in a secure manner and that workers are following processes that the organization has put in place," said Rob Stroud, past international vice president for ISACA and vice president of strategy and innovation at CA.
The so-called BYOD trend has escalated in the past 12 months, Stroud noted, as companies such as IBM and others have allowed workers to bring in their favorite devices to connect to corporate VPNs and email systems. The "consumerization of IT" has flourished with abundant apps and smarter devices such as Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, he said.
Separately, analysts have taken note of the trend. Companies have sometimes allowed workers to use their own devices in the office because even when a certain smartphone is required to access corporate networks, a worker will circumvent that requirement using his or her own device.
"Employers are saying we realize you are a valued employee so if you spend the odd hour here and there doing the odd piece of shopping at work, it makes for a happier employee," Stroud explained.
At the same time, connected devices can pose security risks to corporations, and employees need to be educated to lessen potential risks. "Educating good behavior is better than putting up total brick walls," he advised corporate IT shops.
The kind of training companies need to offer BYOD workers is fairly mundane: advising users to remember to download OS updates, use strong passwords and VPNs, avoid clicking on email attachments from strangers and be careful when using GPS tracking services.
Stroud said he has heard anecdotally of corporate security problems caused by BYOD activities, but didn't offer any examples. He personally once left his iPhone in an airport coffee shop, and it could have been wiped clean of all data -- including sensitive corporate information -- if he hadn't found it quickly.
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