IBM, Ponemon Say BYOD Rises, Mobile Risks Increase Too

Part of a report released by IBM and the Ponemon Institute, on Friday showed, although, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has become increasingly popular, if not a necessity, for organizations, the challenge arises when employees connect to unsecured networks or download insecure apps from un-trusted sources, which leave the phone vulnerable to malware.

As uncovered by the Ponemon Institute’s findings, even apps from trusted organizations and available in traditional app stores can carry enormous risks.

According to the Ponemon study, though most employees are “heavy users of apps,” over half (55%) state their organization does not have a policy which defines the acceptable use of mobile apps in the workplace, and a large majority – 67% - of companies allow employees to download non-vetted apps to their work devices.

Additionally, 55% of organizations say employees are permitted to use and download business apps on their personal devices (BYOD).

To defend against cyber-criminals taking advantage of this immense opportunity, IBM has introduced a new mobile threat management (MTM) technology into its IBM MobileFirst Protect offering (formerly MaaS360).

Using advanced cyber-threat and intelligence technology, IBM MobileFirst Protect Threat Management automatically detects suspicious activities on mobile endpoints, as well as stops malware the moment a device is breached.

Delivered through the cloud and updated over-the-air, this technology equips organizations to be well-armed at all times against rapidly evolving and sophisticated threats and attacks.

IBM MobileFirst Protect Threat Management now provides automatic and highly intuitive protection against would-be hackers, who are increasingly targeting corporate and personal mobile devices (BYOD) used for work.

Built by IBM Security, the offering’s new threat management technology integrates the flexible power of cloud, the comprehensive control of enterprise mobility management, and the most sophisticated defense tools yet created against malware and mobile fraud.

IBM’s security platform provides the security intelligence to help organizations holistically protect their people, data, applications and infrastructure.

The Company offers solutions for identity and access management, security information and event management, database security, application development, risk management, endpoint management, next-generation intrusion protection and more.

IBM operates one of the world’s broadest security research and development, and delivery organizations.