Unmanaged Apple devices expose companies to big risk

Lack of security and management for mobile devices exposes corporations to significant risk, according to research from Centrify.

A survey conducted by the security company has found that 45% are using at least one Apple device for work purposes. While the survey polled US workers, the figures are not likely to be wildly different in Australia.

According to the survey, 51% of iPhones in the workplace and 58% of iPads are used to gain access to business applications. In addition, 59% of Macs in the workplace are used to access confidential company information.

But despite the popularity of these devices, business are not taking enough precautions to secure or manage them, the survey found.

More than half of all Apple devices used in the workplace are secured by passwords that are merely a single word or services of numbers, 58% don’t have software installed to enforce strong passwords and only 17% have a company-supplied password manager.

In addition, only 28% of Apple devices have company-provided device management software installed and only 35% have encryption of stored data enforced by their company.

Centrify Senior VP of Products and Marketing Bill Mann said exposing customer data to loss through insecure Apple products represents a huge liability.

“Disclosure of regulated information such as healthcare records could expose corporations to fines and other legal action,” he said. “Most importantly, there are solutions on the market today that can handily secure Apple devices without sacrificing user productivity. It’s time for IT to take action.”

Image courtesy of Aurimas under CC