DUBAI,
United Arab Emirates – 9th August, 2014 – The adoption of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies by
enterprises in the Middle East is accelerating, but not without ongoing
security concerns. Aruba Networks conducted a survey[1]
of Middle East IT Decision Makers (ITDMs) during GISEC, the region's only
large-scale information security exhibition and conference. The survey found
that nearly 60% of organizations either already support BYOD or intend to do so
in the near future. Still, ongoing security concerns reflect a general lack of
preparedness in managing employee mobile devices, which is holding back broader
adoption.
Most interestingly, the three
main security threats to enterprise mobility were perceived to be
vulnerabilities associated with the Android operating system (40%), device
theft or loss (31%) and employees leaving the organization (30%), all of which
can be effectively mitigated by utilizing the appropriate mobile management
solutions. “While the workforce is clearly eager and ready to embrace mobility,
employers in the Middle East are scrambling to catch up. They need to have
measures in place to secure mobile devices and applications in a systematic and
scalable manner,” said Bashar Bashaireh, Regional Director, Gulf and Pakistan, Aruba
Networks Middle East. “We are seeing the emergence of a breed of workforce
dubbed #GenMobile. This generation is blending work and play via their mobile
devices and will further accelerate the need for IT to respond.”
According to Bashar, catering to the needs of the
#GenMobile employee will require organizations to first invest in providing
robust and secure wireless networks. This was supported by the survey which
showed that the large majority (70%) of respondents prefer Wi-Fi over any other
form of connectivity. Given that security remains a top priority for any
mobility deployment, organizations also need to look into diversifying the
tools they utilize for monitoring mobile networks and their usage, so that they
can address every potential vulnerability. Endpoint security products remain
the prime mode of defense utilized by organizations as stated by 47% of
respondents, and only 17% said their organization had a mobile device
management (MDM) solution in place.
Employee behavior has often
resulted in security breaches for organizations. With personal computing
devices entering the corporate environment, this is even more of a threat.
Despite this, less than 33% of respondents said their organizations conduct
employee trainings relating to enterprise mobility, thus overlooking a vital
part of the BYOD success equation.
With the newest smart devices now
available at affordable prices, it is no longer only high-level employees who own
the latest smart phones and tablets. Consequently, even employees down the
ranks are now expressing a desire to access work on their personal mobile
devices. Driving employee satisfaction as well as productivity requires
organizations to safely support the mobile aspirations of all employees. 44% of
respondents however stated that their organizations believe BYOD support should
only be extended to upper management and high-level executives. Unless this
mentality changes, businesses will risk creating a divide within their own work
forces.
“Restricting enterprise mobility
rather than offering and properly controlling it can negatively impact an
organization. In the era of the #GenMobile employee, organizations that create
a work environment conducive to mobility will be able to attract and retain the
best talent,” said Bashar.
Aruba Networks is a leading provider of
next-generation network access solutions for the mobile enterprise. As part of its product portfolio, Aruba ClearPass access management solution is designed to
provide a window into the enterprise network and covers all network security
& access control requirements from a single platform. More information can
be found at http://www.arubanetworks.com/products/clearpass/
[1] Aruba Networks' survey of over 500 IT
professionals from the GCC was conducted in early June 2014 and coincided with
the GISEC security exhibition and conference that took place in Dubai
