- BYOD is now widespread, and security teams are struggling to manage it, report says
- Edge devices remain exposed as research shows 40% of them go unmanaged in enterprises.
- Zero Trust adoption lags as employees continue to use personal devices despite company policies
Bring your own device (BYOD) is becoming the rule rather than the exception in workplaces, according to new research from Ivanti.
The company has found that home phones, laptops and hotspots are increasingly used for business tasks, often outside of the control of IT departments.
The study found that almost half (44%) of workers had used their personal phone for work, while 37% had used it as a hotspot and 32% had used their own computer.
BYOD regardless of policy
Three in four IT workers say bringing their own device is a common practice, even though only 52% of organizations officially allow it.
Where policies prohibit it, 78% of employees do it anyway.
This lack of oversight leaves businesses potentially vulnerable. Microsoft data shows that more than 90% of ransomware incidents start with an unmanaged device.
Ivanti’s study confirms this statement: 38% of IT professionals admit to not having enough data on the devices connected to their networks.
Edge devices, from smart cameras to remote sensors, further add to the exposure.
According to the report, approximately 40% of these devices remain unmanaged.
“To secure enterprise networks against edge device vulnerabilities, organizations must keep edge devices upgraded to the latest version and push security validation all the way to the user endpoint,” said Mike Riemer, senior vice president of the Network Security Group and Field CISO at Ivanti.
Zero Trust models also lag behind adoption expectations.
79% of IT professionals say access controls are more important when staff work remotely, but only 34% of businesses use zero trust network access and only 30% use privileged access management.
Daniel Spicer, CSO at Ivanti, said: “IT and security leaders should be focused on inventorying all IT assets and managing them. This means ensuring you can discover all existing devices, enforcing a clear BYOD policy, and ensuring the BYOD policy includes the ability to manage a device that was not purchased by the company itself.”
The report concludes that traditional perimeters are no longer effective and that organizations must extend management to all devices, wherever they are, and use identity-based access controls.
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