IBM Clamping Down on BYOD Security Risks

In what I’d expect to see across the industry, Managed Hosting News (Hostway) is reporting that IBM is imposing additional restrictions on the use of BYOD machines in their workplace. This harkens back to one of my previous posts about how Gartner is reporting that BYOD is driving IT crazy.

Hostway’s article discusses some of the restrictions IBM is putting in to make sure its employees don’t:

• Use a competitor’s cloud services instead of their own
• Forward corporate email to private accounts, leaving it vulnerable to hacking
• Compromise corporate data if their smartphone is lost or stolen
• Transmit unencrypted data
• Use Apple’s personal assistant Siri due to fears that confidential information might be forwarded to Apple (IBM actually read the iOS Licensing Agreement…and it seems to have scared them)

It’s an interesting piece and a glimpse into a few issues that are starting to come up as BYOD hits corporate America in a big way.

This article is a perfect illustration that while companies are going to be more open in letting you use your device of choice on their network, they still need to protect their confidential information and put some restrictions on your usage before they’ll let that thing near corporate data. So while it’s your machine (you own it, you pay for it, you’re responsible for its maintenance), there are certain things you’re going to have to agree to in order to use it on a private network.

I would expect to see more articles and policies like this in the future. Companies are going to have to protect their data and trade secrets, and BYOD will not be free for the user.

Read the whole thing by clicking here.

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