{"id":1056,"date":"2016-07-24T22:35:23","date_gmt":"2016-07-24T20:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mi.hdm-stuttgart.de\/?p=1056"},"modified":"2023-08-06T21:54:46","modified_gmt":"2023-08-06T19:54:46","slug":"bring-your-own-device-advisible-but-often-still-harmful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mi.hdm-stuttgart.de\/index.php\/2016\/07\/24\/bring-your-own-device-advisible-but-often-still-harmful\/","title":{"rendered":"Bring your own Device \u2013 advisible, but often still harmful"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"byod\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(written by Mona Brunner, Maren Gr\u00e4ff and Verena Hofmann)<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/b><\/p>\n

Bring your own device (BYOD) is a concept which enables employees to use their personal devices for work. The most poplular devices are smartphones and tablets, however, notebooks can also be included as well. Using their own device employees can access their work Emails, calendar as well as other company data on their own devices. <\/span>
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\nBenefits <\/b><\/p>\n

With BYOD employees can choose the device they want to work on themselves and do not need to pick from a mostly limited choice of hardware a company offers. This can increase the overall job satisfaction. Additionally,  productivity improves significantly since people have their smartphones with them most of the time and are therefore likely to work in their free time as well. This is because they will immediately see when new Emails or calls come in. From a company perspective this has a great financial benefit as well since the employees are paying for the devices themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Risks and Threats<\/b><\/p>\n

While there are numerous benefits to BYOD there are also risks to consider. According to a survey conducted by Risikomanagement-Netzwerks RiskNet 46 per cent of the polled companies stated they see their own employees as the main risk. This is because they might download unauthorized<\/span> applications, visit unsecure websites or leave<\/span> devices unattended.<\/span> Furthermore, the survey \u201eIT-Sicherheit und Datenschutz 2014\u201c by NIFIS found that more than 29 per cent of German companies lost business critical data after allowing BYOD. Data privacy is another important aspect to consider. A company has to ensure that there is sufficient<\/span> protection from theft, loss or cyber attacks. If they do not manage this they risk a contravension against Article 30 of the EU Data Protection Law. Moreover, BYOD can cause violation of copyrights.  Many software programs must not be used for commercial purposes but only for private. In order to be compliant here the employer needs to arrange a software license to be able to legally exert the software for business purposes on the employee\u2019s device. <\/span><\/p>\n

The biggest threat that companies face is theft or loss of these devices. Moreover, connecting the device to open wireless networks possibly enables potential attackers to spy on their activity. Malware is also a significant threat that can cause a lot of harm to a business. Special malware can potentially log, steal and even publish almost everything an employee does on a mobile device. Additionally, companies have to watch out for other threats such as phishing attacks, insecure cloud-based storage services or other applications.<\/span><\/p>\n

Solution approaches<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the bright side there are also different approaches for solutions to ensure right usage of BYOD and for reducing risks and threats to a company. For example, the BYOD-Policy is one solution to manage the use of BYOD. It consists of the following four points:<\/span><\/p>\n