BYOD
BYOD is the most recent trend utilized by many business organizations. Bring your own device (BYOD) policies contribute to increasing employee satisfaction and convenience in the workplace. These benefits are a result of allowing employees to use their high-end computing devices or operating systems. Due to BYOD, the need for an organization to procure computing devices for its employees is eliminated, enabling companies to cut down some of its costs (Disterer & Kleiner, 2013).
However, security and governance concerns are arising from incorporating BYOD in a workplace within an organization. Cutting down organizational expenses as a result of BYOD depends on strategies used during the implementation of BYOD policies. Some companies pay their employees stipends for their computing devices. There are situations where the paid stipends reduce the cost-effectiveness of the BYOD policies (Disterer & Kleiner, 2013).
The other concerns arise from security requirements while using computing devices. Using individual computing devices to perform business operations has various security concerns. First, if employees’ devices with Company data are lost or misplaced, third-parties can gain access to valuable business information. Additionally, workers can have access to Company data and passwords in an event where devices are not wiped after an employer is fired (Disterer & Kleiner, 2013).
Furthermore, there are security concerns from using Cloud services. Encouraging BYOD techniques can create vulnerabilities in the Company’s networks by introducing holes in the system. Such weakness in the system can allow data breaches by intruders like hackers (Verma & Kaushal, 2011). Intrusion activities result in availing sensitive organizational data to third-parties or even data loss.
Therefore, companies need to develop security measures to ensure the effective implementation and operation of BYOD practices and policies in the Cloud environment. Corporations should ensure employee devices are protected with passwords or passcodes before implementing BYOD policies. Other measures include encouraging employees to update firewalls and anti-virus software regularly to avoid the creation of weakness in the Cloud network systems (Verma & Kaushal, 2011).