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Finally, organizations need to look at the mobile devices being used by employees. In the age of
BYOD, employees want to use their own smartphones and tablets to access work resources. At
the very least, they should have some kind of passcode, and it’s surprising how many people do
not use them today.

Our survey last year revealed that while around half the respondents use their personal mobile
devices for work, nearly 40 percent say they do not use passcodes on them even though they
have access to email, confidential documents, customer contact data and even budget
information.

With the right solution, IT departments can manage in-built mobile device features, such as
Samsung KNOX or managed applications within iOS 8, to enable the separation of work and
personal applications. This allows them to control what is being used and by whom to create a
much safer environment for running apps.

Rapid growth in the use of cloud applications, authorized or not, presents new challenges for
corporate IT. The responsibility ultimately lies with the IT department to secure them and to
provide the proper access control and authority to use them. This requires organizations to
develop security best practices for adopting cloud applications. The process starts with
acknowledging Shadow IT as an issue and identifying the cloud applications being used by
employees.
By centrally managing user identity and adopting a single sign-on approach, companies can
find a balance between productivity and security. By applying security policies to devices and
passwords, IT is given the means to maintain security and avoid the risk of a data breach.

About the Author

Bill Mann is chief product officer and senior vice president of products at
Centrify, where he is responsible for product strategy, management,
innovation and evolution.

17 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – May 2015 Edition
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