Employees see work laptops as personal property
by David Masters
Work laptops and mobile phones are increasingly being treated as personal property outside the office, potentially exposing businesses to security threats.
A survey by Vodafone found that nearly half of business people use their work laptop to access the internet outside the office, whilst a similar number considered their work issued laptops or mobile devices as their own property whilst away from the office.
Seven in ten (68%) said using a work-supplied laptop outside the office is a ‘fair exchange’ with their employer.
Senior managers agree, with 65% of managers surveyed saying that it is acceptable for employees to use work-supplied laptops for their own purposes outside of work.
However, Vodafone warned that businesses must be aware of the security risks posed by the personal use of work laptops.
Thirty percent of those questioned use their home WiFi to connect up their work laptop whilst at home, whilst an additional 20% use a wired home broadband connection.
This exposes the laptop to risk of malware attacks, other security threats, as well as legal liability.
Performance of work devices can also be affected if they are used to store personal data such as music, photos, and videos.
Vodafone advocates finding some kind of middle ground, rather than getting so heavy handed with employees that they seek to circumvent security measures.
“Whilst it is right that businesses need to keep a close eye on company assets such as netbooks, laptops and other mobile devices to prevent inappropriate, illegal or irresponsible use, we don’t want to get to a situation where attitudes change to such an extent that policies and procedures become so restrictive that employees actively circumvent them,” said Mike Banwell, Vodafone UK’s head of business services.
Click here to discuss this: Security Forums
Related posts to "Employees see work laptops as personal property":
- Indian government introduces biometric clocking on
- Companies Need To Ban Personal Internet Use
- ISACA identifies P2P hacking as problem for companies
- Stolen Council Laptops Highlight Need For Multiple Layer Security
- Encryption Order on M&S Laptops
Speak Your Mind
Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Previous: « Cyber-Ark launches new access management tool
Next: Tufin launches updated firewall manager »
Visited 1304 times, 1 so far today