A new survey has sounded alarm bells for employers after it revealed one in ten employees still do not use a pin or password on their mobile devices.
The survey, conducted by Osterman Research in US and sponsored by Centrify Corporation, reveals that 15 per cent of enterprise employees believe they have “none to minimal” responsibility to protect corporate data stored on their personal devices.
Further, it reported that ten per cent still do not have a password, PIN or other security measure enabled on the mobile device they use for work purposes, potentially exposing organisations to grave risk.
Centrify APAC director, Matt Ramsay, said Matt Ramsay said the rapid uptake of mobile device use in Australia exposed local enterprises to the same risks identified by the Osterman Research survey.
“There’s no reason to believe the figures are any different in Australia,” he said.
“The problem is many employees tend to think of a smartphone or iPad as a personal device rather than as an unlocked door to their employer’s confidential information.
"It’s clear that organisations not only need to continue to educate employees on the dangers and risks of mobile security, but should also look to solutions that safeguard the devices and applications which these employees have access to.”
The survey also found that nearly 10 per cent of respondents only think about their responsibility a few times a year.
Less than half of enterprise employees are hyper-aware of their mobile security, thinking about their responsibility to protect the corporate information on their personal device on a daily basis.
The Osterman Research survey was developed to assess the security sentiment and behaviour of enterprise employees who use personal smartphones as their primary mobile device for work.
It takes into account the types of applications used on their device, the amount they use it for work purposes and how often that data is accessed.
The survey was completed in March 2014 with more than 500 participants that include employees of North American enterprise organisations with more than 1000 employees.
