Half of Australian organisations lose data through mobile devices

A global study on mobility risks, conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by content security provider Websense, has revealed that corporate mobile devices and employee-owned devices (BYOD), are circumventing enterprise security and mobile device usage policies in Australia.

The global survey included a total of 4640 IT security and general IT practitioners in the US, UK, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, India, Mexico and Singapore.

Of the 300 Australian IT practitioners surveyed, 61% agreed that the use of mobile devices in the workplace is important to achieving business objectives, but 85% also believe that these devices put their organisations at risk - only 36% have the necessary security controls to address the risk and only 45% have enforceable mobile device usage policies.

The survey found that organisations often don’t know how and what data is leaving their networks through non-secure mobile devices and traditional static security solutions such as antivirus (AV), firewalls and passwords are not effective at stopping advanced malware and data theft from malicious or negligent insiders.

Australian survey results (300 IT security and general IT practitioners):

• 61% agreed that the use of mobile devices in the workplace is important to achieving business objectives.
• 85% said that mobile devices put their organisations at risk.
• 36% have the necessary security controls to address the mobile security risks.
• 45% have enforceable mobile device usage policies.
• 65% reported that employees circumvent or disengage security features, such as passwords and key locks (eg, jailbreak), on corporate and personal mobile devices.
• During the past 12 months, 50% of organisations experienced data loss resulting from employee use of insecure mobile devices, including laptops, smartphones, USB devices and tablets.
• 48% said that, over the past 12 months, their organisations experienced an increase in malware infections as a result of insecure mobile devices in the workplace.
• 82% are concerned with employees taking photos or videos in the workplace. Other unacceptable uses included downloading and using personal email accounts (46%) and using internet apps (44%).

Following the release of the survey data, Websense launched its cloud-based Triton Mobile Security solution, designed to permit safe corporate use of mobile devices. It includes web security, data security, mobile malware and app protection, and mobile device management features for iPads, iPhones, Android and other mobile devices and laptops.

The survey defined mobile devices as laptops, USB drives, smartphones and tablets.