Acronis Survey Shows Nearly 60 Percent of Companies are Vulnerable to BYOD Risks

Businesses are Ignoring BYOD Policies, Simple Security Steps and Employee Education, Research Shows

London, UK - July 17, 2013 - A UK survey from Acronis® and the Ponemon Institute reveals that the majority of companies are putting critical data at risk by not having policies in place to protect it once it leaves a company, whether that be through BYOD or public cloud-based file sharing. By ignoring simple security steps and employee BYOD education, companies are jeopardising its confidential data, exposing it to theft, corruption, hackers, malware and more.

Acronis' 2013 Data Protection Trends Research, which evaluated responses from more than 570 UK IT professionals, discovered that:

1. There Are Big Gaps in BYOD Policies

· Almost 60 percent have no personal device policy in place, and, among those with policies, 23 percent make exceptions for executives, who may handle even more sensitive data. As a result, these organisations are increasingly vulnerable to data loss and serious compliance issues.

· A number of organisations are still in denial when it comes to BYOD trends, as just under a quarter (23 percent) surveyed actually forbid personal devices from accessing the network.

· Nearly 80 percent of organisations haven't educated employees on BYOD privacy risks.

2. Simple Security Precautions Are Falling to the Wayside

· Just 21 percent of companies mandate a device password or key lock on personal devices, and only 18 percent perform remote device wipes when employees leave the company, drastically increasing the risk for data leakage.

3. Businesses Underestimate the Dangers of Public Clouds

· Corporate files are commonly shared through third-party cloud storage solutions such as DropBox, but 69 percent of organisations don't have a policy in place around public clouds and 80 percent haven't trained employees in the proper use of these platforms.

4. Businesses Fear Apple® Devices Are Complicating BYOD Security

· While 59 percent of organisations will support Macs® in the next year, more than half (61 percent) say compatibility and interoperability are still big obstacles to getting Macs compliant with IT, which puts data stored and shared across the corporate network and on Apple devices at risk.

"Personal devices have permanently and positively changed the workplace, particularly in the way employees collaborate, work remotely and interact with company data," said Rick Powles, managing director UK & Ireland, Acronis. "BYOD is a huge opportunity for companies, but our research shows troubling signs of negligence in the face of these dangers. However, with policies and solutions that manage the flow of data between multiple devices and environments, companies can practice safe BYOD with confidence."

Matching BYOD Productivity with Policy

To optimise BYOD, protect the bottom line, and avoid data loss and serious compliance issues, organisations should take immediate steps to ensure employees are trained in safe BYOD practices, that personal device and public cloud use are monitored and managed, and that effective data protection solutions are in place to prevent data loss. These are the critical steps to achieving safe BYOD.

Resources:

· Download the BYOD Survival Guide eBook here: http://bit.ly/13QMmmS

· Find the Acronis BYOD Safety infographic here: http://bit.ly/15fWpic

· For more information on Acronis mobility, click here: http://bit.ly/1brVcsQ