Over the last few months, work from home has become a new norm for every industry. The shutdown has left no other option for the companies than to shift from an office campus with corporation devices to satellite campuses in households. BYOD has been in play for a long time. However, the current health crisis has rapidly increased the trend.

BYOD policies are cheaper for companies and studies show increased productivity among employees. Following a BYOD policy leads to simplifying the storage of data and records, eases the difficulty of remembering passwords for both official and private websites, and maintains one single data history. In addition, it ensures easy hardware upgrades for employees. 

Though BYOD seems to be a better choice, implementing it for a huge number of employees may lead to certain security issues. That’s because private devices do not hold the same security level as devices under the company’s control. Furthermore, private devices may utilize other shared Wi-Fi connections that may impact the company’s server by transferring viruses and malware. The following steps are designed to strengthen BYOD security.

• Security software should be provided to BYODs.
  Providing security software is the finest way to safeguard every device. The installation of security software should be mandatory for every device that has been used for working purposes. Make sure the devices use the latest version of security software.
• Passwords should be compulsory.
  Having no password in the device that is used for official work can lead to innumerable problems, including loss of valuable  data —both private and official. A section of the BYOD policy must comprise requirements for passwords on every device entering the company. 
• Blacklisted applications should be forbidden.
  The personal device used under the BYOD policy should disallow blacklisted applications, including file sharing applications. This kind of application may lead to security risk. With the help of a portable device controlling system, these applications will be blacklisted and blocked, and security improve.
• Access to sensitive data should be curbed.
  Data breaching is one of the major concerns in BYOD policies. However, reducing the number of devices with sensitive data would lead to reducing the chances of a data breach as well. For this reason, it becomes vital to restrain data access for employees who don’t require it for legitimate purposes.  

Presently, a huge number of enterprises have implemented BYOD policies. This has manipulated the BYOD security market to another level. Based on an analysis, nearly 70% of enterprises have adopted BYOD policies. Additionally, the sudden arrival of the unprecedented pandemic caused a significant impact on the demand for BYOD policies all across the world. 

COVID-19 Impacts

Almost every industry in the world has been through the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. Governments and health organizations have issued several measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, and are encouraging offices to adopt the remote working system as far as possible to maintain social distancing. Most administrations have followed this advisory and have allowed work from home for their employees.

This situation has become indecisive, and it is unlikely to predict the end of this norm for now. However, various organizations have been following a remote working system for a long time. This new work style has made it critical to strengthening the policies to avoid cyberthreats.

Indeed, the COVID-19 outbreak is changing the approach of business around the globe. Nevertheless, it’s not as extreme for some companies. A maximum number of organizations have enabled BYOD environments for employees and partners. However, these types of environments were not designed for a huge workforce. The sudden outbreak of coronavirus pandemic has forced the workforce to shift overnight.

The Future

Implementation of BYOD security is an indefinite task. The companies have to always ensure the safety and security of devices used under their frontier. The pandemic has led to an upsurge of BYOD security. According to a report published by Allied Market Research, the global BYOD security market would grow at a significant growth rate in the coming years. Moreover, BYOD offers numerous benefits to the businesses along with controlling the flow of data and ensuring to avoid unnecessary risks and data loss to the company.