Mobile Devices are IT Managers' Security Headache

Mobile devices are IT managers' security headache

René Millman 31 Jan 2006 11:19

Two-third of IT managers are still experiencing security breaches because of poor practices on mobile devices, according to new findings.

A survey of 500 enterprise IT managers in the U.S., U.K., Germany and France, commissioned by Landesk software, found that companies lacked the necessary corporate policies to prevent laptops and other devices access to the network without adequate security checks.

Sixty-six percent of IT Managers surveyed experience security breaches and feel anti-virus software is not enough to keep malware out of their infrastructure. Sixty percent of respondents said their organization has no way of scanning devices connecting to their network or quarantining any system that does not meet their company's security requirements.

The results of the survey also revealed that many IT Managers are leaving the network security of their organization to chance, despite 88 percent of respondents now having a workforce that is mobile or field-based. Nearly half those surveyed (46 percent) admitted that the only way their workforce update their security settings on their laptop or mobile device is when they are physically back in the corporate environment. The results found that 23 percent said that they trusted their users to apply the security patches themselves.

When questioned as to which were the most common causes of breaches of security within their organization, the following reasons were given:

-Unauthorized mobile devices and laptops being connected to the organization's network (30 percent);
-Users making changes to, or disabling settings (33 percent);
-Out of date patches or anti-virus signatures (26 percent);

Experts said the number of vulnerabilities and increasing usage of mobile devices are exacerbating the situation.

"Most IT managers have seen an increase in the number of mobile or field workers by around a third, but despite this increase, they are expected to manage these workers with inadequate tools," said Dave Taylor, vice president of Worldwide Marketing for Landesk Software.
"Security needs to not only detect blended threats like viruses and spyware, but also automate the necessary corrective measures, quickly and effectively," he said.

http://www.scmagazine.com/uk/news/article/538706/mobile-devices-security-headache-managers/