Majority of European employees are not worried about security issues when using their company mobile device at work
Mobile devices for business use are now fully accepted as secure within European companies, a new study has shown.
Altogether, 74% of employees in European businesses are not concerned about security issues when using their company mobile phone; this figure stands at 77% for employees in the UK, and 82% in Germany.
This is according to an independent research project conducted by HID Global, a provider of secure identity solutions. The findings are a key indicator of the level of confidence that employees have in the mobile security that their companies provide. With these positive attitudes to mobile security in mind, HID stated that this could pave the way for other smartphone based security features, such as the ability to open doors with mobile devices, which the company predicted could become commonplace in businesses across the region, especially for small and medium sized enterprises(SMEs).
The research project assessed over 1,200 respondents from the UK, France and Germany ranging from large organisations to SMEs. According to the findings, 75% of people working at SMEs are not worried about security problems when using their work mobile devices. This highlights a significant level of confidence in workplace mobile security strategies, and comes at a time when mobile adoption and usage in the workplace is high; 78% of SME professionals polled use their company mobile devices at work for work purposes on a regular basis.
Harm Radstaak, VP and MD of physical access control solutions at HID Global, commented: “These results underline how mobile users in the workplace are confident in the ability of their companies to keep data on mobile devices safe from external threats. It provides valuable insights into how pervasive the use of company mobile devices is within enterprises across Europe, and how it is set to evolve in the coming years.
“Building on the confidence that employees have in mobile device security, we see using mobile devices to open doors becoming increasingly common in workplaces in the future. This is especially valid for SMEs, as they tend to be flexible, agile and adaptable in their approach to innovation and efficiency,” added Radstaak.
HID noted that it is important that SMEs further enhance this rapidly growing mobility usage trend by offering employees innovative solutions such as secure mobile access control technology, building on the confidence that employees already have in current policies. At the same time, solutions implemented must be both cost-effective and convenient for employees to use.
Radstaak said: “The research revealed that almost 60% of SMEs do not have security restrictions in place regarding company mobile phone use, compared to just 33% for larger enterprises. In order to successfully implement mobile access control, SMEs need to ensure they implement robust mobile security technologies that include comprehensive BYOD security strategies.”
Mobile access control solutions should be affordable, easy to implement and very importantly provide a positive user experience for employees, claimed Radstaak. It should also extend to enable visitors and contractors to access facilities on a temporary basis, through short term credentials that they can use through their smartphone.
The company claimed that, “the trust that employees have in mobile security is certainly encouraging, and SMEs should look to build on this. However, it’s crucial that companies avoid betraying this trust, by tightening up mobile security where any weaknesses may currently exist. Convenience is king in today’s increasingly mobile era but at the same time security should not be compromised. In particular, SMEs need to strike the right balance of offering a solution that is convenient for their employees but cost effective given the limited budgets when compared with larger enterprises”.
