Security Issues Dog Smartphones, Social Nets

The convenience and functionality of today’s smartphones make them virtually indispensable in the enterprise these days. The same’s true of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

But as eSecurity Planet reports, the latest survey conducted on behalf of Cisco Systems found that all the inherent benefits of smartphones and social media are somewhat offset by the security challenges facing IT managers charged with incorporating these largely unsecured devices and sites into the corporate game plan.

The most common assessment (at 63 percent) is being done to determine what security applications employees are running, while choice of operating system came in a close second at 58 percent.

More than half (56 percent) of security professionals said they determined their employees use unsupported applications, with the U.S., China and Japan leading the way. Social network services, including Facebook (68 percent), were the most commonly used unauthorized applications.


SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Employees may covet and gain legitimate business value by using their personal smartphone at work, but the use of these devices on corporate networks is proving to be a hassle and, in some cases, a significant security issue for IT.

A Cisco-sponsored survey of 512 security professionals across five countries, including the U.S., also found that the unauthorized use of social networks raises similar issues.

The survey was conducted for Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) by InsightExpress and participants were screened to be sure they worked for companies with at least 100 employees. The results showed that the vast majority of what the study calls IT Security Decision Makers (ITSDMs) are engaged in some type of assessment to monitor employees’ use of technology.



Read the full story at eSecurity Planet:


Cisco: Use of Unauthorized Devices a Growing IT Headache

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