Feds Still Behind the Curve in BYOD – Security the #1 Concern
The growth of BYOD programs is exploding in the private sector. Indeed Gartner expects half of all companies to establish mandatory BYOD policies by 2017. After all, the economics make sense, according to Cisco, the predicted savings per employee amounts to a staggering $3,150.
So how is the federal government responding to the BYOD boom? Not well according to all reports.
Following its own study earlier this year, the Brookings Institution concluded that the federal government is “missing critical opportunities to benefit from BYOD.” Only one federal agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs, alludes to BYOD in its strategic plans. Not a single other agency even recognizes the value of BYOD to government, despite that fact that a BYOD toolkit (which supports federal agencies looking to implement BYOD programs) has existed since 2012.
“While some government entities might face data security challenges associated with BYOD (e.g. DoD agencies), we would expect the majority of federal agencies to describe clear BYOD strategies,” Brookings researchers wrote.
That being said, BYOD security is a genuine concern. FedScoop did its own research among mobility experts and found that both the federal and private sectors agree that the government is behind on BYOD due to a lack of internal policy and guidance.
BYOD or Controlled-Mobile Devices – Security Challenges Persist
But BYOD is only part of the problem for the feds. A lack of confidence in data protection persists even when agencies have control of mobile devices.
A new survey of federal IT professionals from DLT partner, SolarWinds, found that 36% of respondents indicated that only agency-owned mobile devices are allowed to access their systems. While 80% of respondents still believe that mobile devices pose a threat to their agency's security and 35% don't provide security training for mobile device users.
Most of those surveyed use data encryption, firewall rule audits, mobile device wiping, mobile application inventory and authorization, and two-factor authentication to secure mobile devices, but at least 35% of respondent haven't fully implemented any of these solutions.
The most challenging aspect of mobile device security, according to the survey, is securing both the application and the device, followed by malware protection, and unauthorized use.
Don’t Leave Money on the Table
So how do feds avoid leaving money on the table when it comes to BYOD policy?
As mobile technology continues to grow in federal environments, whether through BYOD programs or otherwise, SolarWinds’ CIO and CTO, Joel Dolisy, suggests that:
"Agency leaders must not only provide their IT pros with the right tools to maintain control and security of their infrastructure, but remain flexible in considering operational and organizational changes like IT shared services that can help institute agency-wide security protocols and more."
Furthermore, as mobile continues to grow in federal environments, the research reinforces that “…fully implementing multiple management, monitoring and security tools provides significantly more control and confidence throughout IT organizations in the wake of this change.” said Laurie Morrow, director of research services at Market Connections, Inc. who worked closely with SolarWinds on its survey.
More Information
You can check out the full results of the survey here. Then learn more about SolarWinds’ powerful and affordable IT management software for mobile technology, available on GSA Schedule, DoD ESI, and other contract vehicles.
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