There Is A Major Downside To Having A Mobile Workforce- Valutrics

Mobile employees in the Middle East might be putting their companies at risk and exposing them to potential cyberattacks by overriding security policies and sharing data with mobile devices, a new survey found.

The survey, conducted by cloud and virtualization software company VMware, revealed that 49% of all IT professionals in the region said they were pressured by mobile workers and top management to override security policies.

The survey also found that 63% of all respondents said that the benefits of a mobile business outweigh any potential security threats.

A whopping 81% of respondents said that their employees are pushing for more mobility, while 44% said they believe that the lack of mobile working can bring down their productivity.

However, increased mobility is increasing security hazards as 40% of employees report that they frequently override their organisation’s mobile policies in order to be more productive in the way they work.

Moreover, 66% of IT leaders has said that C-Level executives are putting pressure on them to access corporate data from their own mobile devices, even when this access goes against corporate policies.

Additionally, 61% have expressed concerns regarding granting access as there’s a perceived security risk in letting employees work from their own devices, with 54% say that accessing company data and network through own personal devices presents the greatest vulnerability for a cyberattack.

“Simply put, there can be no digital transformation without mobility. That means organizations are under increasing pressure to drive their businesses forward and innovate and are taking short-term risks in security in order to make staff and operations as agile as possible,” commented Ian Evans, vice president, End User Computing EMEA Managing Director, AirWatch EMEA at VMware.

“The great news is that there doesn’t have to be a compromise between mobility or security, but it’s about the power of ‘and’. With a software-defined architecture, security can be built into the application, inside the network, at the user and content level.”

“This means organisations can adopt the secure digital workspace, letting users access the data they need, according to their role, on any device, so businesses can be as mobile as they like without compromising on security,” added Evans.