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employees to adopt a lifestyle that precludes personal time, it is just as unhealthy for the companies
that these employees represent. Accessing corporate data from personal wearable devices poses a
dangerous security risk, one that is compounded by the use of a home wireless network. To
minimize this practice, efficiency within the workplace should be encouraged while taking one's
work home should be discouraged. This facet of security should ideally be a seamless team effort
between employer and employee.

4. Adjust the Office Accordingly

BYOD or "Bring Your Own Device" policies have become rampant in office settings, encouraging
employees to provide their own personal computers and cellular devices while forgoing office-
shared technology. For the sake of ease and portability, a multitude of employees have turned to
wearable tech to fulfill their workplace needs, however this trend poses a threat to business
security. A plethora of devices straining the capabilities of the office WiFi not only decreases overall
internet speed for everyone on the network, but it also heightens the potentiality of shared viruses
and malware, especially since these policies take damage control out of the hands of IT
departments. To turn the tide, offices must be willing to provide in-house devices, and impose
policies governing which devices can be connected to company networks, and when.

5. Realign Expectations

In recent years, the field of wearable technology has become a playground for creative forces and
unrestrained imagination. This isn't poised to change, nor should it be; rather these forces simply
need to be channeled in a direction that considers our unprecedented level of connectivity, and
what that means for security. Connectivity once meant reaching an old friend via social networks,
but the meaning is ever-expanding with the advent of wearable tech. Wearing a built-in GPS device
on your wrist provides all the information an unscrupulous competitor needs to know about where
you took a meeting, while using your wearable to pay for services digitally can leave your company
credit card vulnerable. The wearer's expectations and assumptions of safety will need to be re-
measured against these new standards.

About the Author

Lee Ying has over 10 years experience in the tech and security industry. He currently writes for
various websites, if you would like to contact him you can find him on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/lee-ying/9a/18b/238. Follow me on Twitter @LeeYing101

8 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – October 2015 Edition
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