Over the past few years, companies have sought to save some money by eliminating their mobility programs. Executives may see this as a way to cut expenses since most employees need mobile services for personal use and business. While it may be true that employees will continue to pay for mobile services if their employer stops paying for it, there are risks in switching from corporate liable to employee liable programs where employees own their devices and they are responsible for securing the devices and the data that resides on them.
Recently, there were three news reports that highlight the need for organizations to focus on network security. There were wide spread reports of people that were able to see other people’s information when they were caught in the rush of online ordering of the new iPhone. A few weeks earlier a group hackers got the e-mail addresses of more than 100,000 Apple iPad owners and the ID numbers the iPads use to communicate over the network. In addition, Google’s Street View cars – used to develop Google Maps collected personal information sent over Wi-Fi networks.
The Federal Communications Commission has now states “the FCC’s mission is to ensure that broadband networks are safe and secure, and we’re committed to working with all stakeholders to prevent problems like this in the future.”
With more employees connecting personal wireless devices to corporate networks for e-mail, this is a good to determine what you are doing to manage the security on these devices. Each of these devices presents opportunities for hackers to access your network. As employees access corporate e-mail and other data, it is important to develop plans to secure this data. As you think about these issues, cost considerations are sure to rise. A good way to manage these expenses is through Wireless Expense Management or WEM programs.
